Say what the comment is for, not what the bug was

Release-Bump: minor

.gitea/workflows/registry-cleanup.yml

@@ -19,4 +19,4 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo \
             -e REGISTRY_TOKEN -e REGISTRY_USER -e REPO_TOKEN -e REPOSITORY -e SERVER_URL \
-            node:24.19.0-alpine3.24 node registry-cleanup/cleanup.ts
+            node:24.20.0-alpine3.24 node registry-cleanup/cleanup.ts

.gitea/workflows/release.yml

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ jobs:
           GIT_TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo node:24.19.0-alpine3.24 \
+          docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo node:24.20.0-alpine3.24 \
             node release-tooling/contract-version.ts "$GIT_TAG" src/plugin-host/plugin.ts
       - name: Promote the commit-hash image to semver + latest
         env:
@@ -98,9 +98,9 @@ jobs:
           VERSION=${INPUT_VERSION:-${GIT_TAG#v}}
           VERSION=${VERSION#v}
           # An empty dispatch input falls back to the branch name, so gate this like a tag.
-          docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo node:24.19.0-alpine3.24 \
+          docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo node:24.20.0-alpine3.24 \
             node release-tooling/contract-version.ts "$VERSION" src/plugin-host/plugin.ts
           docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo \
             -e DOCKERHUB_REPO -e DOCKERHUB_TOKEN -e DOCKERHUB_USER \
-            node:24.19.0-alpine3.24 \
+            node:24.20.0-alpine3.24 \
             node release-tooling/dockerhub-overview.ts "$VERSION"

.gitea/workflows/renovate.yml

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ jobs:
             -e RENOVATE_PLATFORM=gitea \
             -e RENOVATE_REPOSITORIES=${{ github.repository }} \
             -e RENOVATE_TOKEN \
-            renovate/renovate:44.39.1
+            renovate/renovate:44.61.6
 
   # After the renovate job, cut ONE tag covering the renovate-bot commits merged to main since the
   # last tag (batch per run). Targets origin/main — the real post-merge tip; the checkout SHA is the
@@ -58,11 +58,11 @@ jobs:
           if [ -z "$BUMPS" ]; then
             echo "Renovate commits since ${LATEST}, but none carry Release-Bump — nothing reached a running Plainpages; skipping"; exit 0
           fi
-          NEXT=$(docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo node:24.19.0-alpine3.24 \
+          NEXT=$(docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo node:24.20.0-alpine3.24 \
                  node release-tooling/next-version.ts "$LATEST" $BUMPS)
           # Read the constant off origin/main, not the checkout, which lags the merges this run made.
           git show origin/main:src/plugin-host/plugin.ts \
-            | docker run -i --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo node:24.19.0-alpine3.24 \
+            | docker run -i --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo node:24.20.0-alpine3.24 \
                      node release-tooling/contract-version.ts "$NEXT" -
           echo "Releasing $LATEST -> $NEXT"
           git tag "$NEXT" origin/main

AGENTS.md

@@ -36,6 +36,15 @@ branch, create a PR and merge it when the CI/CD turns green.
 ## Project priorities (do not erode)
 
 1. **Simplicity** — prefer the solution that is easiest to understand, smallest, and most readable.
+   **A page is a document**: it scrolls, and the chrome scrolls with it. Nothing may bound the
+   viewport to hold content still — no `height: 100dvh` frame, no `overflow: hidden` on `body`, no
+   `position: sticky` header. Each such box buys an app-like look with CSS the next reader has to
+   reverse-engineer, and is one more thing to undo before the content under it can be reached.
+   Overlays are not this: the skip link, the mobile off-canvas nav and its scrim sit *above* the
+   document rather than holding it still, and have no other spelling — the document keeps scrolling
+   behind the open nav, accepted rather than overlooked. Only the document scroller gets keyboard
+   paging unconditionally and back/forward scroll restoration, and a page a box clips fails silently:
+   nothing in a test or a console says content is unreachable below the fold.
 2. **Few dependencies** — runtime deps stay minimal (today `ejs`, `lucide-static`, `@larvit/log`,
    `postgres`). Prefer the Node standard library; justify any new dependency; do not add frameworks.
    The **host is stateless — it owns no schema and stores nothing of its own**; a plugin may own a
@@ -93,6 +102,16 @@ Revisit only if the stated reason stops holding.
   plugin cannot destroy data — boot logs the orphans instead. Because the host's copy sits in the
   ambient `/node_modules`, a plugin can `import "postgres"` without declaring it — incidental, not a
   packaging promise, and a plugin must still depend on its own driver.
+  - **Plugin settings are declared, not discovered** (README → Plugin settings). `settings.ts` is pure and
+  takes the env as an argument, so the whole matrix unit-tests without a stack. Four rules carry the
+  design: the prefix is `PLUGIN_SETTING_`, never bare `PLUGIN_`, because a plugin id `db` with key
+  `url` would otherwise name the host's own `PLUGIN_DB_URL`; keys are camelCase so the
+  `camelCase → SNAKE_CASE` mapping is total and no two keys collide, with the residual cross-plugin
+  collision caught by `findConflicts`; `required` and `default` are mutually exclusive, which is what
+  lets `SettingsOf` type a declared key as present rather than `T | undefined`, so no plugin author
+  casts; and a secret's value reaches the plugin but never a log, an error or `ctx.declaredSettings`
+  — not even as a mask or a length. An author mistake is refused at discovery, a bad operator value
+  refuses the boot, and a stray `PLUGIN_SETTING_` variable only warns (the orphan-database precedent).
 - **The trust boundary is the `web` process, not the plugin.** Per-plugin databases and roles bound
   *accidents*, not hostile plugins: `PLUGIN_DB_SECRET` is in `web`'s environment during `onBoot`, and
   a plugin already holds `ctx.system`'s Ory admin clients — so cross-plugin DB isolation is
@@ -172,6 +191,22 @@ Revisit only if the stated reason stops holding.
     example it keeps the route table and the in-handler guard deriving from one function, so 29 routes
     × 2 gate sites cannot drift. Generalised, it would make authorization a function of the transport
     verb — a route table must answer "what does this need?" on its own.
+- **A gate is one of three, named exactly once, and `session` is a first-class one.** A route or nav
+  node names exactly one of `public`, `session`, `permission` — discovery refuses none, two, and a
+  flag spelled anything but `true`, so a forgotten gate fails the boot rather than publishing a page.
+  `src/auth/gate.ts` is the one home of the rule the plugin router, the host's own route table and
+  the menu all read. Exactly-one-gate is a discovery-time rule on manifests, not a runtime
+  invariant: `allows({}, user)` stays open **by design**, because the central override's `groups`
+  builds header nodes that carry no gate. Making `allows` fail closed would hide every
+  operator-grouped section. `session` exists because a plugin whose data is
+  the visitor's own — their upstream account, their own tokens — has no distinction a permission could
+  name; the alternative, granting every newly registered user a permission, couples the identity
+  lifecycle to a Keto write that nothing retries when it fails. A page scoped to "mine" joins on
+  `ctx.user.id`, never the email — an address is user-changeable and can be reassigned to someone
+  who would then inherit the previous holder's rows.
+- **The reference plugin's two shift pages duplicate a view model and markup on purpose.** An example
+  is read far more often than it is changed, and each page reads top to bottom on its own. **Valid
+  while `examples/plugins/scheduling` stays a teaching artifact rather than a maintained product.**
 - **A `:read`-only holder must never be shown a write affordance.** The list/detail models carry
   `canWrite` and the views drop create/save/delete/add/remove; the permission picker still renders,
   disabled, because *seeing* who holds what is the point of `:read`. A **write-intent GET** (a create
@@ -244,11 +279,18 @@ Revisit only if the stated reason stops holding.
   open-state style and the old-browser fallback both read; the partial **requires a caller-named
   `id`** and fails loud without one, since that is the `popovertarget` idref (never generate one —
   nondeterministic HTML forecloses the caching decision); and **neither `aria-expanded` nor
-  `aria-haspopup` is written**, because a zero-JS invoker cannot keep the first truthful and the
-  second would promise `role="menu"` semantics these panels don't implement. `<details>` stays where
+  `aria-haspopup` is written**: every engine maintains the first itself on a declarative
+  `popovertarget` invoker, so a hand-written one replaces a live state with a static lie, and the
+  second would promise `role="menu"` semantics these panels don't implement. **That guarantee is the
+  declarative attribute's alone** — open a panel from script and no engine applies it, so
+  "enhancing" one of these triggers is what would cost it its accessibility. `<details>` stays where
   it means disclosure rather than popup: the nav tree. `shell.ejs` hand-rolls the same block for the
   profile menu (its trigger composes escaped user values and its one item is a CSRF POST form) — keep
   the two in step.
+- **One scroller, the document** (priority 1). `.app` is `min-height: 100dvh`. `.nav`'s
+  `overflow-y: auto` and `.side-footer`'s `flex: 0 0 auto` are not leftovers of a bounded frame:
+  they are what makes the off-canvas panel usable with a long tree. `#nav-toggle` is `position: fixed` —
+  a label click focuses it, and a browser scrolls a focused element into view.
 - **`ICON_NAMES` (`src/ui/icons.ts`) is a host-owned registry, not a frozen plugin contract**, so it
   is deliberately not re-exported from `@plainpages/plugin-api`. The palette may narrow when the last reference
   to an id goes, and a plugin needing one gets it re-registered in the same change. Accepted cost: an

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+# Changelog
+
+The release version **is** the plugin contract version (`HOST_API_VERSION`), so a minor is a
+contract break: a plugin's `apiVersion` must match the host's `major.minor` or discovery refuses it
+at boot. Entries start at 0.3.0.
+
+## 0.4.0
+
+**Breaking.** Set `apiVersion: "0.4.0"`. The app shell no longer bounds the content column, so a page
+that relied on filling it scrolls the document instead.
+
+### The document scrolls, and the chrome scrolls with it
+
+`.app` was a `100dvh` box with `overflow: hidden`, so a page was only reachable below the fold if its
+own wrapper was a flex child with `overflow-y: auto`. `.table-wrap` and `.shell-auth` were; nothing
+else was, and a long page in `.form-page` clipped everything past the window in every engine.
+
+Now the shell is `min-height: 100dvh` and nothing bounds the viewport. The sidebar and topbar scroll
+with the page, and keyboard paging, back/forward scroll restoration and find-in-page work without a
+page doing anything.
+
+The sticky `thead` on `data-table` goes with it: a header only sticks to a scrollport that moves, and
+there is no longer one. A plugin that wants a full-height pane owns that in its own stylesheet; the
+shell offers no opt-out, per the simplicity priority in `AGENTS.md`.
+
+### Upgrading a plugin
+
+1. Set `apiVersion: "0.4.0"`.
+2. A page that scrolled the whole window needs no change — it now scrolls the document.
+3. A page holding a region that filled the content column (`flex: 1 1 auto; min-height: 0` with its
+   own `overflow`) no longer gets a bounded column to fill, so that region grows and the page scrolls.
+   Either let it, or give the region its own height in the plugin's stylesheet.
+4. A `data-table` no longer scrolls its rows in a bounded region: the page scrolls, and the header
+   scrolls with it.
+
+The sidebar stretches the whole document, so on a long page its footer — theme, language, profile and
+**Sign out** — sits at the end of that page rather than the bottom of the screen.
+
+## 0.3.0
+
+**Breaking.** Set `apiVersion: "0.3.0"`, and name a gate on every route and nav node.
+
+### A session is a gate of its own
+
+`session: true` takes any signed-in user, with no grant to hold — for a page whose data is the
+visitor's own (their upstream account, their own tokens), where there is no distinction a permission
+could name. An anonymous visitor is bounced to `/login` with the page as `return_to`, exactly as a
+permission gate does.
+
+Every route and nav node now names **exactly one** of `public: true`, `session: true` or
+`permission: "<resource>:<action>"`, and a gate is spelled `true`:
+
+- Naming **none** is refused. It used to mean public, so a forgotten gate published a page; it now
+  fails the boot instead.
+- Naming **two** is refused, as before.
+- Spelling one anything but `true` is refused — `public: false` and `session: "yes"` both set no gate
+  while reading as if they set one.
+
+A section header gates nothing itself, so it takes `public: true` and lets each child decide; the
+host still drops a header whose children all filtered out.
+
+`Gate` is exported from `@plainpages/plugin-api`, and `Route` and `NavNode` extend it.
+
+### Filter bars take a multi-select
+
+The `filter-bar` partial gains a `multiselect` control — the same checkboxes on the same query
+parameter as `chips`, but behind a button once the list is too long to lay on the bar. Config is
+`{ name, legend?, note?, value?, options }`, and the panel says what a capped list left out.
+
+### Fixed
+
+- An identity carrying no email no longer yields a session at all. Login used to mint a JWT for one,
+  which every later request then rejected as anonymous — leaving the browser holding a dead cookie
+  and no way to tell why.
+
+### Dependencies
+
+- Node 24.20.0.
+
+### Upgrading a plugin
+
+1. Set `apiVersion: "0.3.0"`.
+2. Give every route and nav node a gate. Anything that relied on omitting one was public — say
+   `public: true` outright.
+
+A page that scopes rows to the signed-in visitor should join on `ctx.user.id`. An email address is
+user-changeable and can be reassigned to someone else, who would then inherit the previous holder's
+rows. The reference plugin's new `/scheduling/mine` page shows the shape.

Dockerfile

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Node 24 runs TypeScript directly (type stripping) — no build step. Pinned exact tag.
-FROM node:24.19.0-alpine3.24
+FROM node:24.20.0-alpine3.24
 
 # Above WORKDIR so dev's `.:/app` bind mount can't shadow them; a volume at /app/node_modules
 # instead leaves a root-owned dir in the checkout (the daemon creates mount destinations as root).

README.md

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ folder under `plugins/` goes live after a restart. Create `plugins/hello/plugin.
 import { definePlugin } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
 
 export default definePlugin({
-  apiVersion: "0.1.0",
+  apiVersion: "0.4.0",
   nav: [{ href: "/hello", id: "hello", label: "Hello", public: true }],
   routes: [
     { method: "GET", path: "/", public: true, handler: () => ({ html: "<h1>Hello from my plugin</h1>" }) },
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ From here, render real pages against the app shell and fetch upstream data — s
   - [hooks](#hooks)
   - [where they live & mounting](#where-plugins-live-and-how-to-mount-them)
   - [dependencies](#plugin-dependencies)
+  - [settings](#plugin-settings)
   - [storage](#plugin-storage)
   - [local dev & test](#local-dev--test-story)
 - [The menu system](#the-menu-system)
@@ -230,6 +231,7 @@ Against the reference plugins' actual routes:
 | Request | Gate | alice | bob | carol | anonymous |
 | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
 | `GET /scheduling` | `public: true` | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
+| `GET /scheduling/mine` | `session: true` | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | → `/login` |
 | `GET /scheduling/shifts` | `scheduling:read` | ✅ | ✅ | 403 | → `/login` |
 | `GET /scheduling/shifts/new` | `scheduling:write` | ✅ | 403 | 403 | → `/login` |
 | `POST /scheduling/shifts` | `scheduling:write` | ✅ | 403 | 403 | → `/login` |
@@ -348,9 +350,9 @@ import { definePlugin } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
 import { listThings, createThings } from "./handlers.ts";
 
 export default definePlugin({
-  apiVersion: "0.1.0",                // semver string of the host contract this plugin was built against (see Versioning)
+  apiVersion: "0.4.0",                // semver string of the host contract this plugin was built against (see Versioning)
 
-  // Nav fragment, merged into the global menu and permission-filtered per user.
+  // Nav fragment, merged into the global menu and gate-filtered per user.
   // `icon` is a Lucide icon by its sprite id (src/ui/icons.ts).
   nav: [{ href: "/things", icon: "i-cal", id: "things:list", label: "Things", permission: "things:read" }],
 
@@ -360,7 +362,7 @@ export default definePlugin({
     { description: "Create and edit things", name: "things:write" },
   ],
 
-  // Route handlers, mounted under the plugin's path (/things). `permission` gates first.
+  // Route handlers, mounted under the plugin's path (/things). The gate runs first.
   routes: [
     { method: "GET",  path: "/", permission: "things:read",  handler: listThings },
     { method: "POST", path: "/", permission: "things:write", handler: createThings },
@@ -377,23 +379,24 @@ folder-derived `id` to produce the loaded `Plugin`.
 | `apiVersion` | yes | Semver string of the host contract the plugin was built against. See [Versioning](#contract-versioning). |
 | `home` | no | A `RouteHandler` that owns the **public** landing `/`. At most one plugin may declare it. See [The landing pages](#the-landing-pages-home--dashboard). |
 | `dashboard` | no | A `RouteHandler` that owns the **gated** app home `/dashboard`. At most one plugin may declare it. See [The landing pages](#the-landing-pages-home--dashboard). |
-| `nav` | no | `NavNode[]` fragment (same shape `composeNav` consumes). `icon` is a Lucide sprite id (`src/ui/icons.ts`); node `id`s must be globally unique. A `label` that names a catalog key is [translated](#languages-i18n); anything else renders as written. |
+| `nav` | no | `NavNode[]` fragment (same shape `composeNav` consumes). Every node names [exactly one gate](#public-pages--menu-items). `icon` is a Lucide sprite id (`src/ui/icons.ts`); node `id`s must be globally unique. A `label` that names a catalog key is [translated](#languages-i18n); anything else renders as written. |
 | `permissions` | no | Permissions this plugin gates on. See [Nav & permission gates](#nav--permission-gates). |
 | `routes` | no | See [Routes & handlers](#routes--handlers). |
 | `hooks` | no | See [Hooks](#hooks). |
+| `settings` | no | Configuration this plugin accepts, one `PLUGIN_SETTING_<ID>_<KEY>` variable per key, resolved and validated at boot and handed to `onBoot`. See [Plugin settings](#plugin-settings). |
 | `storage` | no | `true` ⇒ the host provisions a Postgres database and login role for this plugin and hands the credentials to `onBoot`. See [Plugin storage](#plugin-storage). |
 
 A plugin may be routes-only, nav-only, or hooks-only — every collection field is optional.
 
 ### Routes & handlers
 
-A route is `{ method, path, permission?, public?, handler }`. `path` is **relative to the plugin's
+A route is `{ method, path, handler }` plus [exactly one gate](#public-pages--menu-items) —
+`permission`, `public: true` or `session: true`. `path` is **relative to the plugin's
 mount path `/<id>`** (so `path: "/:id"` in the `things` plugin serves `/things/:id`); the host matches
 `method` + the resolved full path, extracts `:name` segments into `ctx.params.name`, runs the
-`permission` gate ([a coarse JWT-claim check](#nav--permission-gates)), then calls the handler with
+gate ([a coarse JWT-claim check](#nav--permission-gates)), then calls the handler with
 the [request context](#requestcontext). A failed gate redirects an **anonymous** visitor to `/login`
 with the page as `return_to`; a **signed-in** user lacking the permission gets the **403** page.
-`public: true` means no gate at all (see [Public pages](#public-pages--menu-items)).
 
 `method` is one of `GET HEAD POST PUT PATCH DELETE`. A `GET` route also answers `HEAD`.
 
@@ -468,7 +471,7 @@ import { definePlugin } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
 import { landing, board } from "./pages.ts";
 
 export default definePlugin({
-  apiVersion: "0.1.0",
+  apiVersion: "0.4.0",
   home: landing,     // owns "/" — the public front page
   dashboard: board,  // owns "/dashboard" — the post-login app home
 });
@@ -567,20 +570,28 @@ system plugins you author or vendor. An ordinary domain plugin ignores it.
 
 A plugin's `nav` fragment is merged into the global menu by `composeNav` (`src/ui/nav.ts`), which
 applies the central override and then **filters per user** by the permissions in the session JWT: a
-node shows iff it is `public`, declares no `permission`, or the user holds that name. A node's `icon`
-is a **Lucide icon** by sprite id (e.g. `i-cal` → lucide `calendar`); the available ids are
-`ICON_NAMES` in `src/ui/icons.ts`, and adding one means registering its lucide name there.
+node shows iff it is `public`, is `session` and someone is signed in, or names a `permission` the
+user holds. A node's `icon` is a **Lucide icon** by sprite id (e.g. `i-cal` → lucide `calendar`); the
+available ids are `ICON_NAMES` in `src/ui/icons.ts`, and adding one means registering its lucide name
+there.
 
 **Gating a section header.** A `permission` on the header takes the whole subtree with it. When the
-children need *different* permissions, leave the header ungated and gate each child — `composeNav`
-drops a header whose children all filtered out. That only works while the header carries **no
-`href`**: give it one and it survives as an ungated leaf, visible to everyone.
+children need *different* permissions, mark the header `public: true` — it then gates nothing, each
+child decides, and `composeNav` drops a header whose children all filtered out. That only works while
+the header carries **no `href`**: give it one and it survives as a leaf, visible to everyone.
 
 #### Public pages & menu items
 
-A route or nav node marked **`public: true`** is reachable by anyone and shows in everyone's menu.
-That is the same as omitting `permission`, but stated outright so public is a deliberate choice
-rather than a forgotten gate. The two are **mutually exclusive** — declaring both is refused at boot.
+A route or nav node marked **`public: true`** is reachable by anyone and shows in everyone's menu —
+open stated outright, so it is a deliberate choice rather than a forgotten gate.
+
+**`session: true`** takes any signed-in user, with no grant to hold — for a plugin whose data is the
+visitor's own. An anonymous visitor is bounced to `/login` with the page as `return_to`, exactly as a
+permission gate does.
+
+Every route and nav node names **exactly one** of the three, spelled `true` (or a permission name).
+Naming none, naming two, or spelling one `false` is refused at boot — so a forgotten gate fails the
+plugin instead of publishing a page.
 
 A public page still renders in the native shell; for an anonymous visitor `ctx.user` is `null`, the
 shell shows a **Sign in** link in place of the profile block, the gated **Dashboard** link is hidden,
@@ -615,6 +626,7 @@ provider/consumer semantics in `checkApiVersion`:
 The plugin pins one exact version (no ranges, per the project's pinning rules); the *host* supplies
 the compatibility. One digit carries the whole release, so a **minor** means either the plugin
 contract changed or a dependency moved far enough to warrant one.
+[`CHANGELOG.md`](CHANGELOG.md) is what a minor sends you to: what broke, and what to change.
 
 
 ### Conflict rules
@@ -633,7 +645,7 @@ The host detects collisions across all discovered plugins with `findConflicts` a
 Mount-path uniqueness needs no rule of its own — it follows from the id check. Discovery also
 rejects **per-manifest shape errors**: a non-array `nav`/`routes`/`permissions`, a non-function
 `home`/`dashboard`, a permission name that isn't [`<resource>:<action>`](#naming-a-permission), or a
-route/nav node setting both `public` and `permission`.
+route/nav node that does not name [exactly one gate](#public-pages--menu-items).
 
 ### Hooks
 
@@ -736,6 +748,56 @@ barrel's types on disk: typecheck it mounted under the host tree, or vendor a ty
 `node_modules`** and point tsconfig `paths` at it — a stub inside is the shadowing copy discovery
 refuses, and it would travel with the folder you mount.
 
+### Plugin settings
+
+A plugin declares the configuration it accepts, and the host resolves it from the environment at
+boot. Each key becomes one variable — `PLUGIN_SETTING_<ID>_<KEY>`, the id's dashes and the key's
+camel humps both becoming underscores — so `upstream` on the `scheduling` plugin is set by
+`PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM`.
+
+```ts
+export default definePlugin({
+  apiVersion: "0.4.0",
+  settings: [
+    { key: "upstream", type: "url", required: true, description: "Base URL of the backend" },
+    { key: "pageSize", type: "number", default: 25 },
+    { key: "mode", type: "enum", values: ["strict", "lenient"], default: "strict" },
+    { key: "apiKey", type: "string", secret: true, default: "dev-insecure-key" },
+  ],
+  hooks: {
+    onBoot: ({ settings }) => {
+      settings.upstream; // string  — required, so the boot already refused without it
+      settings.pageSize; // number  — defaulted, so always present
+      start(settings);
+    },
+  },
+});
+```
+
+`type` is one of `string`, `number`, `boolean`, `enum` (with `values`) or `url`. A declared type is
+coerced and checked at boot, so a mistyped value names the plugin, the key and the variable instead
+of surfacing later as a broken page.
+
+**`required` and `default` are mutually exclusive** — a default means the setting can never fail, so
+declaring both is refused at discovery. That leaves three cases, and the type `onBoot` receives
+follows them exactly: `required: true` is always present, a `default` is always present, and a
+setting with neither is `T | undefined`, so the plugin has to handle its absence.
+
+**Secrets.** `secret: true` marks a value the host reads but never renders — not in a boot log, not
+in an error, not on the admin screen, which shows only whether it resolved and from where. With
+`REQUIRE_SECURE_SECRETS=true` a secret that is unset, or still equal to its declared default, refuses
+the boot — the same rule the host applies to its own secrets.
+
+**Where it fails, and where it warns.** A malformed declaration is refused at discovery; a missing
+`required` value or a value that will not coerce refuses the boot. A `PLUGIN_SETTING_` variable no
+installed plugin declares is only *reported* — it is usually a typo in the one the operator meant to
+set, and naming it turns two unrelated-looking errors into one. Declaring settings without an
+`onBoot` warns too: they resolve, but nothing receives them.
+
+**Reading what a deployment is configured with.** The admin plugin's **Plugin settings** screen
+(`plugin-settings:read`) lists every installed plugin, its declared keys, the variable that sets
+each, and whether the value came from the environment or the declared default.
+
 ### Plugin storage
 
 A plugin that needs to keep data sets `storage: true`. The host then provisions a Postgres
@@ -749,7 +811,7 @@ import { definePlugin } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
 let sql: ReturnType<typeof postgres>;
 
 export default definePlugin({
-  apiVersion: "0.1.0",
+  apiVersion: "0.4.0",
   storage: true,
   hooks: {
     onBoot: async (boot) => {
@@ -859,9 +921,10 @@ The menu is **driven entirely by config** and assembled from two sources:
    export default defineMenu({ branding: { name: "Acme Ops" }, override: { hide: ["teams"] } });
    ```
 
-Every nav item may carry a `permission`; the rendered tree is **filtered per user** from the session
-JWT (no per-request authz call), so the menu only shows what that person can reach. An item may
-instead be **`public: true`** to show it to everyone — mutually exclusive with `permission`.
+Every nav node a **plugin** declares names one gate — a `permission`, **`public: true`** (everyone)
+or **`session: true`** (anyone signed in); a header this override groups takes none, and shows
+whenever a child does. The rendered tree is **filtered per user** from the session JWT (no
+per-request authz call), so the menu only shows what that person can reach.
 Branding (name, logo, default theme) renders in the app shell.
 
 **One menu, one shell, everywhere.** A single menu (`src/ui/chrome.ts` `buildPluginChrome`) renders
@@ -870,6 +933,11 @@ recovery / front pages — so it looks identical signed in or out and just shows
 anonymous visitor. The sidebar collapses to a burger on a narrow screen; a page wanting a
 chrome-free layout opts out with the shell's `menu: false`.
 
+**The document scrolls, and the chrome scrolls with it.** Nothing bounds the viewport, so a page is
+reachable below the fold without adding a scroll region of its own, and browser paging, scroll
+restoration and find-in-page work without a page doing anything. A plugin that wants a full-height
+pane owns that in its own stylesheet.
+
 ## Building blocks
 
 Plainpages is a **component library, not a page generator** — reusable EJS partials + TS helpers,
@@ -1030,7 +1098,7 @@ The app is **environment-agnostic**: no `NODE_ENV`, every behaviour its own expl
 | `PORT` | `3000` | web listen port |
 | `CACHE_TEMPLATES` | `false` | cache compiled EJS templates (`true` in prod) |
 | `SECURE_COOKIES` | `false` | mark our session/CSRF cookies `Secure` (`true` in prod https; off in dev http) |
-| `REQUIRE_SECURE_SECRETS` | `false` | when `true`, `CSRF_SECRET` — and `PLUGIN_DB_SECRET` once storage is configured — must be supplied and differ from the dev throwaway |
+| `REQUIRE_SECURE_SECRETS` | `false` | when `true`, `CSRF_SECRET` — and `PLUGIN_DB_SECRET` once storage is configured, and every plugin setting declared `secret` — must be supplied and differ from the dev throwaway |
 | `LOG_LEVEL` | `info` | min severity logged: `error`/`warn`/`info`/`verbose`/`debug`/`silly`/`none` |
 | `LOG_FORMAT` | `text` | log line format: `text` (human-readable, dev) or `json` (structured, prod) |
 | `SERVICE_NAME` | `plainpages` | OTLP `service.name` on every log + span — brand it as your own deployment |
@@ -1047,6 +1115,7 @@ The app is **environment-agnostic**: no `NODE_ENV`, every behaviour its own expl
 | `REVOCATION_TTL_SEC` | `900` | how long a revoke entry lives; keep ≥ tokenizer TTL (10m) + clock skew |
 | `CSRF_SECRET` | dev throwaway | signs our double-submit CSRF token; enforced by `REQUIRE_SECURE_SECRETS` |
 | `PLUGIN_DB_URL` | _unset_ (dev: `postgres://postgres:5432`) | credential-free Postgres base URL for [plugin storage](#plugin-storage); unset ⇒ storage off, and a plugin declaring it aborts boot |
+| `PLUGIN_SETTING_<ID>_<KEY>` | per declaration | one variable per key a plugin declares in `settings`; see [Plugin settings](#plugin-settings) |
 | `PLUGIN_DB_ADMIN_URL` | _unset_ (dev: the bundled superuser) | the DSN that provisions each plugin's database and role — read by the one-shot `bootstrap` service **only**, never by `web` |
 | `PLUGIN_DB_SECRET` | dev throwaway | derives each plugin's database password; `REQUIRE_SECURE_SECRETS` enforces it in `web` once `PLUGIN_DB_URL` is set, and in `bootstrap` whenever a plugin declares storage |
 | `PLUGIN_DB_CONNECTION_LIMIT` | `10` | per-role Postgres connection ceiling, so one plugin's pools cannot exhaust the server Ory shares; read by `bootstrap` when provisioning |
@@ -1667,6 +1736,7 @@ e2e-tests/           Playwright specs + their Dockerfile and compose.{visual,aut
 release-tooling/     Everything the release runs: next-version (the bump math), contract-version
                      (the HOST_API_VERSION↔tag gate), dockerhub-overview (+ its .md.tmpl)
 registry-cleanup/    Nightly image pruning — the Gitea client plus what survives (select-versions.ts)
+CHANGELOG.md         What changed per release, and how to upgrade a plugin across a minor
 ci.sh                The full gate: typecheck → unit tests → every E2E suite on a fresh stack
 .gitea/workflows/    Gitea Actions — see CI/CD
 ```

compose.override.yml

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ services:
       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/
+      PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM: "http://shifts-upstream:4000" # backs the reference plugin once you copy it into plugins/
     volumes:
       - .:/app
       # Mount your own menu/branding override into the empty config/ dir (defaults apply otherwise):
@@ -46,10 +46,10 @@ services:
 
   # Mock backend ready for the reference plugin (examples/plugins/scheduling): plugins/ ships empty, so
   # the plugin is opt-in — `cp -r examples/plugins/scheduling plugins/scheduling`, restart, and this
-  # backs it (SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM above points here). Stand-in for the customer's real service —
-  # stdlib-only, in-memory, no auth. Prod points SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM at the real backend instead.
+  # backs it (PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM above points here). Stand-in for the customer's real service —
+  # stdlib-only, in-memory, no auth. Prod points PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM at the real backend instead.
   shifts-upstream:
-    image: node:24.19.0-alpine3.24
+    image: node:24.20.0-alpine3.24
     command: node /srv/server.ts
     restart: unless-stopped
     volumes:
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ services:
   # Dev mail catcher — Kratos recovery/verification emails land here (web UI on 8025).
   # kratos.yml points the courier at smtp://mailpit:1025; prod uses a real SMTP via env.
   mailpit:
-    image: axllent/mailpit:v1.31.0
+    image: axllent/mailpit:v1.31.1
     ports:
       - "8025:8025"
     restart: unless-stopped

e2e-tests/Dockerfile

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Playwright runner — browsers preinstalled, pinned to match @playwright/test in e2e-tests/.
 # Built/run via e2e-tests/compose.visual.yml; targets the `web` service over the network.
-FROM mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.62.1-noble
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.63.0-noble
 
 WORKDIR /e2e-tests
 

e2e-tests/compose.full.yml

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ services:
 
   # The reference plugin's upstream (examples/shifts-upstream) so /scheduling/shifts shows real rows.
   shifts-upstream:
-    image: node:24.19.0-alpine3.24
+    image: node:24.20.0-alpine3.24
     command: ["node", "/server.ts"]
     volumes:
       - ./examples/shifts-upstream/server.ts:/server.ts:ro
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ services:
   # Mock OIDC provider for the SSO login test — stdlib Node, auto-approves, signs an id_token Kratos
   # verifies via its jwks. Reachable as the same host (mock-oidc:9000) by both the browser and Kratos.
   mock-oidc:
-    image: node:24.19.0-alpine3.24
+    image: node:24.20.0-alpine3.24
     command: ["node", "/mock-oidc.ts"]
     environment:
       ISSUER: http://mock-oidc:9000
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ services:
 
   # Same-origin gateway: Kratos-owned paths → kratos, everything else → web (e2e-tests/proxy.ts).
   proxy:
-    image: node:24.19.0-alpine3.24
+    image: node:24.20.0-alpine3.24
     command: ["node", "/proxy.ts"]
     depends_on:
       web:

e2e-tests/full-flow.spec.ts

@@ -193,6 +193,23 @@ test.describe.serial("authenticated admin journey", () => {
     await page.goto("/scheduling/shifts");
     await expect(page.locator("h1")).toHaveText("Shifts");
     await expect(page.locator("table")).toContainText("Morning — Front desk"); // seeded by the mock upstream
+
+    // The admin owns none of the demo's rows, so an empty page is the no-leak assertion.
+    await page.goto("/scheduling/mine");
+    await expect(page.locator("h1")).toHaveText("My shifts");
+    await expect(page.getByText("No shifts are assigned to admin@plainpages.local")).toBeVisible();
+    await expect(page.locator("table")).not.toContainText("Morning — Front desk");
+  });
+
+  test("plugin settings: the screen names the variable that sets each declared key", async () => {
+    await page.goto("/admin/plugin-settings");
+    await expect(page.locator("h1")).toHaveText("Plugin settings");
+    // The reference plugin's one declared setting, and the variable an operator would set for it.
+    const scheduling = page.locator("table").filter({ hasText: "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM" });
+    await expect(scheduling).toContainText("upstream");
+    await expect(scheduling).toContainText("http://shifts-upstream:4000"); // resolved, and its source shown
+    // Every installed plugin gets a section, so "declares none" is distinguishable from "not installed".
+    await expect(page.locator("h2", { hasText: "admin" })).toHaveCount(1);
   });
 
   test("logout: signing out ends the session and returns to the login page", async () => {

e2e-tests/package-lock.json

@@ -6,17 +6,17 @@
     "": {
       "name": "plainpages-e2e",
       "devDependencies": {
-        "@playwright/test": "1.62.1"
+        "@playwright/test": "1.63.0"
       }
     },
     "node_modules/@playwright/test": {
-      "version": "1.62.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@playwright/test/-/test-1.62.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-DTcUc8qii+cpHvtOwggMtBRMjKZHXYWdw8syRYu2vtzuq4Wxphqq4NfCs5Zt44L6mA8rfDfj+PHnxFc/FeK6mQ==",
+      "version": "1.63.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@playwright/test/-/test-1.63.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-oxMK4vllB9RK5NQ2l1pq1IfOf2AvnEuj/vYGDj0H2nMtmtZpKtCwt/l00GEO6xjGfpBNAvjovvYdCm50dRQkpQ==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "dependencies": {
-        "playwright": "1.62.1"
+        "playwright": "1.63.0"
       },
       "bin": {
         "playwright": "cli.js"
@@ -25,44 +25,26 @@
         "node": ">=20"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/fsevents": {
-      "version": "2.3.2",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fsevents/-/fsevents-2.3.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-xiqMQR4xAeHTuB9uWm+fFRcIOgKBMiOBP+eXiyT7jsgVCq1bkVygt00oASowB7EdtpOHaaPgKt812P9ab+DDKA==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "hasInstallScript": true,
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "optional": true,
-      "os": [
-        "darwin"
-      ],
-      "engines": {
-        "node": "^8.16.0 || ^10.6.0 || >=11.0.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/playwright": {
-      "version": "1.62.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/playwright/-/playwright-1.62.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-0M+L3LAD8/nm554LOla9Ayx0j0tmFZ0FBcoQ7F1VuVHpM/XpiC8RcDzBQB8W5+hA8L22THxELzeF+2WcUzvcLg==",
+      "version": "1.63.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/playwright/-/playwright-1.63.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-+7ziBLidS4NaNCdt57SUDT+wYmmd5fmiQejUic/kb+YsYSCPyOOE9sebzMjNmQrsnNpDJqd4WHvV/8lfKfUDUg==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "dependencies": {
-        "playwright-core": "1.62.1"
+        "playwright-core": "1.63.0"
       },
       "bin": {
         "playwright": "cli.js"
       },
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=20"
-      },
-      "optionalDependencies": {
-        "fsevents": "2.3.2"
       }
     },
     "node_modules/playwright-core": {
-      "version": "1.62.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/playwright-core/-/playwright-core-1.62.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-wPYSwEBJY9GHraISXqyqtx0na0LpO3XEX7jNDhntbex7tzUS7kLnZsOlFruFJB4Hi/rhDMjXGqHewDZ68nYZVw==",
+      "version": "1.63.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/playwright-core/-/playwright-core-1.63.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-rYCsBF/M5HjUch52bbtVONEFjv6Xu8sm8h72dNlR5bzIE1fvC/bxgspzkjSfU+MweEMmPM8KJebG6nnyxo5mCg==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "bin": {

e2e-tests/package.json

@@ -7,6 +7,6 @@
     "test": "playwright test"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "@playwright/test": "1.62.1"
+    "@playwright/test": "1.63.0"
   }
 }

e2e-tests/visual.spec.ts

@@ -28,6 +28,45 @@ test.beforeEach(async ({ context }) => {
   await context.addCookies([{ name: SESSION_COOKIE, url: BASE_URL, value: devSession() }]);
 });
 
+// A key press, not scrollIntoView (a script can scroll a box no reader can) and not the wheel
+// (Firefox's synthetic event never reaches the document).
+for (const [name, path, tail] of [
+  ["the starter dashboard", "/dashboard", ".form-actions .btn"],
+  ["the public landing", "/", ".landing-actions .btn"],
+] as const) {
+  for (const width of [1280, 390]) {
+    test(`${name} scrolls to its end at ${width}px wide`, async ({ page }) => {
+      await page.setViewportSize({ width, height: 200 });
+      await page.goto(path);
+
+      const overflows = await page.evaluate(() => document.documentElement.scrollHeight > window.innerHeight);
+      expect(overflows, "the page must overflow, or it proves nothing").toBe(true);
+      await page.keyboard.press("End");
+      await expect(page.locator(tail).last()).toBeInViewport({ ratio: 1 });
+    });
+  }
+}
+
+// Green only while #nav-toggle is position: fixed — a label tap focuses it, and focus scrolls into view.
+test("closing the mobile drawer leaves the reader where the scrim found them", async ({ page }) => {
+  await page.setViewportSize({ width: 390, height: 200 });
+  await page.goto("/dashboard");
+
+  await page.locator(".hamburger").click();
+  await expect(page.locator("#nav-toggle")).toBeChecked();
+  // Scripted, because a key press with focus on the toggle does not scroll in every engine — and
+  // what is under test is closing the drawer, not how the reader got down the page.
+  await page.evaluate(() => window.scrollTo(0, 120));
+  const at = await page.evaluate(() => window.scrollY);
+  expect(at, "the page must have somewhere to scroll behind the scrim").toBeGreaterThan(0);
+
+  // The exposed strip beside the 264px panel: the scrim spans the viewport, so its centre is under
+  // the drawer and a centre click lands on the panel instead.
+  await page.locator(".scrim").click({ position: { x: 340, y: 100 } });
+  await expect(page.locator("#nav-toggle")).not.toBeChecked();
+  expect(await page.evaluate(() => window.scrollY), "closing the drawer must not move the page").toBe(at);
+});
+
 test("captures the live pages for review", async ({ page }) => {
   await page.goto("/dashboard");
   await expect(page.locator(".sidebar")).toBeVisible();
@@ -94,6 +133,7 @@ test("a popover menu sits on its trigger and closes on an outside click or Esc
   await expect(panel).toBeVisible();
   await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
   await expect(panel).toBeHidden();
+  await expect(trigger).toBeFocused(); // the browser returns focus, so no trigger needs a tabindex
 });
 
 test("mobile layout hides the sidebar off-canvas behind the hamburger", async ({ page }) => {
@@ -142,11 +182,11 @@ test("unknown routes serve the 404 page (a real user-facing flow, covered end-to
   await expect(page.getByRole("link", { name: "Back home" })).toBeVisible();
 });
 
-// The reference plugin (plugins/scheduling) ships discovered in the image. Its public Overview is
-// reachable by anyone and its menu header shows for everyone; the shifts list stays permission-gated,
-// so an anonymous visitor is bounced to sign in. The authenticated list/form flow is the full
-// E2E (full-flow.spec). Side-effect-free.
-test("the reference plugin: public Overview is open to all, the gated Shifts redirects to /login", async ({ page, request }) => {
+// The reference plugin (plugins/scheduling) ships discovered in the image, and shows all three
+// gates: the public Overview is reachable by anyone, My shifts takes any session, and the shifts
+// list needs a permission. The authenticated list/form flow is the full E2E (full-flow.spec).
+// Side-effect-free.
+test("the reference plugin: public Overview is open to all, My shifts takes any session, the gated Shifts redirects to /login", async ({ page, request }) => {
   // `request` is the isolated API context — it doesn't carry the beforeEach session cookie, so these
   // probes are genuinely anonymous.
   // The public overview is reachable with no session (200), not bounced to sign in.
@@ -165,10 +205,23 @@ test("the reference plugin: public Overview is open to all, the gated Shifts red
   expect(res.status()).toBe(303);
   expect(res.headers()["location"]).toBe("/login?return_to=%2Fscheduling%2Fshifts");
 
+  // A `session: true` route bounces an anonymous visitor the same way — no permission involved.
+  const mine = await request.get("/scheduling/mine", { maxRedirects: 0 });
+  expect(mine.status()).toBe(303);
+  expect(mine.headers()["location"]).toBe("/login?return_to=%2Fscheduling%2Fmine");
+
   // The signed-in member (no scheduling permission) sees the public Scheduling → Overview leaf in the nav,
   // but the gated Shifts leaf is filtered out.
   await page.goto("/dashboard");
   await expect(page.locator('.sidebar a[href="/dashboard"]')).toHaveCount(1); // the one unified menu renders
   await expect(page.locator('.sidebar a[href="/scheduling"]')).toHaveCount(1); // public Overview shown
   await expect(page.locator('.sidebar a[href="/scheduling/shifts"]')).toHaveCount(0); // gated leaf filtered out
+  await expect(page.locator('.sidebar a[href="/scheduling/mine"]')).toHaveCount(1); // session gate: a session is enough
+
+  // No shifts upstream on this stack, so this also pins the degraded page: the reason, never a 500
+  // and never a claim about what is assigned.
+  await page.goto("/scheduling/mine");
+  await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { name: "My shifts" })).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.getByText("Couldn't reach the scheduling service")).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.getByText("No shifts are assigned to")).toHaveCount(0);
 });

examples/README.md

@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ across (or bind-mount your own) and restart.
 | [`plugins/scheduling/`](plugins/scheduling/) | `plugins/scheduling/` | The reference plugin: a list page over an upstream REST service, a CSRF-guarded form that forwards a write, and permission-gated nav — built from the core building blocks, holding no state. Imports the host surface as `@plainpages/plugin-api`. See its [README](plugins/scheduling/README.md) and the [plugin contract](../README.md#building-plugins). |
 | [`plugins/admin/`](plugins/admin/) | `plugins/admin/` | The system-admin plugin: the Users / Groups / Permissions / OAuth2-clients screens for running Plainpages itself. A *system* plugin — it administers the Ory identity stack via the privileged [`ctx.system`](../README.md#system-capabilities-the-ctxsystem-surface) surface instead of its own upstream. Copy it in to get a GUI for user & group admin. See its [README](plugins/admin/README.md). |
 | [`config/menu.ts`](config/menu.ts) | `config/menu.ts` | The central menu override + branding template (rename/group/order/hide nav, set app name/logo/theme). Imports its typed builder as `#menu-config`; `config/` ships empty, so defaults apply until you copy this in. See [The menu system](../README.md#the-menu-system). |
-| [`shifts-upstream/`](shifts-upstream/) | — (dev service) | A throwaway mock backend the reference plugin reads/writes — stdlib-only, in-memory, no auth. Stands in for your real service so `docker compose up` shows the plugin working out of the box; in production you point `SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM` at the real thing instead. |
+| [`shifts-upstream/`](shifts-upstream/) | — (dev service) | A throwaway mock backend the reference plugin reads/writes — stdlib-only, in-memory, no auth. Stands in for your real service so `docker compose up` shows the plugin working out of the box; in production you point `PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM` at the real thing instead. |

examples/plugins/admin/admin-plugin-settings.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import test from "node:test";
+import type { PageChrome, PluginSettings } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
+import { buildPluginSettingsModel } from "./admin-plugin-settings.ts";
+
+const CHROME: PageChrome = { brand: { name: "Test" }, csrfToken: "tok", nav: [], signInHref: "/login", user: { email: "", initials: "T", name: "Tester" } };
+
+const CATALOG: readonly PluginSettings[] = [
+  {
+    pluginId: "scheduling",
+    settings: [
+      { description: "Where shifts come from", envName: "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM", key: "upstream", required: true, secret: false, source: "env", type: "url", value: "https://shifts.test" },
+      { envName: "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_MODE", key: "mode", required: false, secret: false, source: "default", type: "enum", value: "strict", values: ["strict", "lenient"] },
+      { envName: "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_NOTE", key: "note", required: false, secret: false, source: "unset", type: "string" },
+    ],
+  },
+  { pluginId: "quiet", settings: [] },
+];
+
+test("a row carries the variable to set and where the value came from", () => {
+  const model = buildPluginSettingsModel({ chrome: CHROME, settings: CATALOG });
+  const rows = model.groups[0]?.table.rows ?? [];
+  assert.deepEqual(rows.map((r) => r.name), ["upstream", "mode", "note"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(rows[0]?.cells, [
+    { rowHeader: { text: "upstream" } }, "Where shifts come from", "url", "Yes", "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM", "Environment", "https://shifts.test",
+  ]);
+  assert.equal(rows[1]?.cells[2], "enum (strict, lenient)"); // the choices are the useful half of the type
+  assert.equal(rows[2]?.cells[5], "Not set");
+});
+
+test("a plugin declaring nothing still gets a section, so it is visibly installed", () => {
+  const model = buildPluginSettingsModel({ chrome: CHROME, settings: CATALOG });
+  assert.deepEqual(model.groups.map((g) => g.pluginId), ["scheduling", "quiet"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(model.groups[1]?.table.rows, []);
+  assert.match(model.groups[1]?.emptyText ?? "", /no settings/i);
+});
+
+test("a secret renders as set-or-not, never as a value, a mask or a length", () => {
+  const settings: readonly PluginSettings[] = [{
+    pluginId: "billing",
+    settings: [
+      { envName: "PLUGIN_SETTING_BILLING_API_KEY", key: "apiKey", required: false, secret: true, source: "env", type: "string" },
+      { envName: "PLUGIN_SETTING_BILLING_WEBHOOK_KEY", key: "webhookKey", required: false, secret: true, source: "unset", type: "string" },
+    ],
+  }];
+  const rows = buildPluginSettingsModel({ chrome: CHROME, settings }).groups[0]?.table.rows ?? [];
+  assert.equal(rows[0]?.cells[6], "Secret — set");
+  assert.equal(rows[1]?.cells[6], "Secret — not set");
+});
+
+test("two tables on one page need distinct row-action id stems", () => {
+  const model = buildPluginSettingsModel({ chrome: CHROME, settings: CATALOG });
+  const stems = model.groups.map((g) => g.table.actionsId);
+  assert.equal(new Set(stems).size, stems.length);
+});

examples/plugins/admin/admin-plugin-settings.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+// Plugin settings admin screen: what each installed plugin declares it can be configured with, the
+// variable that sets it, and how each key resolved. Read-only — the host reads settings from the
+// environment at boot, so changing one is a deploy, not a form.
+
+import { type PageChrome, type PluginSettings, type RouteHandler, type SettingSummary, type Translate } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
+import { ADMIN_EN, requirePermission } from "./admin-shared.ts";
+
+interface SettingsGroup {
+  emptyText: string;
+  pluginId: string;
+  table: {
+    actionsId: string;
+    caption: string;
+    columns: { label: string }[];
+    rows: { cells: (string | { rowHeader: { text: string } })[]; name: string }[];
+  };
+}
+
+// One group per installed plugin, including those declaring nothing — an operator who cannot find
+// their plugin here has not installed it, which is the other half of what this screen answers.
+export function buildPluginSettingsModel(opts: { chrome: PageChrome; settings: readonly PluginSettings[]; t?: Translate }) {
+  const t = opts.t ?? ADMIN_EN;
+  return {
+    breadcrumbs: [{ label: t("admin.pluginSettings.title") }],
+    chrome: opts.chrome,
+    groups: opts.settings.map((plugin): SettingsGroup => ({
+      emptyText: t("admin.pluginSettings.none"),
+      pluginId: plugin.pluginId,
+      table: {
+        actionsId: `settings-${plugin.pluginId}`, // two tables share this page, so the stem must differ
+        caption: t("admin.pluginSettings.caption", { plugin: plugin.pluginId }),
+        columns: [
+          { label: t("admin.pluginSettings.column.key") },
+          { label: t("admin.pluginSettings.column.description") },
+          { label: t("admin.pluginSettings.column.type") },
+          { label: t("admin.pluginSettings.column.required") },
+          { label: t("admin.pluginSettings.column.variable") },
+          { label: t("admin.pluginSettings.column.source") },
+          { label: t("admin.pluginSettings.column.value") },
+        ],
+        rows: plugin.settings.map((setting) => ({
+          cells: [
+            { rowHeader: { text: setting.key } },
+            setting.description ?? "",
+            typeLabel(setting),
+            t(setting.required ? "admin.pluginSettings.yes" : "admin.pluginSettings.no"),
+            setting.envName,
+            t(`admin.pluginSettings.source.${setting.source}`),
+            valueLabel(setting, t),
+          ],
+          name: setting.key,
+        })),
+      },
+    })),
+    title: t("admin.pluginSettings.title"),
+  };
+}
+
+// An enum's choices are the useful half of its type — they are what the operator must pick from.
+function typeLabel(setting: SettingSummary): string {
+  return setting.type === "enum" && setting.values ? `${setting.type} (${setting.values.join(", ")})` : setting.type;
+}
+
+// A secret never renders its value — not the value, not a mask of it, not its length. Whether it
+// resolved and from where is what an operator needs, and the source column already says the rest.
+function valueLabel(setting: SettingSummary, t: Translate): string {
+  if (setting.secret) return t(setting.source === "unset" ? "admin.pluginSettings.secretUnset" : "admin.pluginSettings.secretSet");
+  return setting.value ?? t("admin.pluginSettings.unset");
+}
+
+// GET /admin/plugin-settings
+export const pluginSettingsList: RouteHandler = (ctx) => {
+  requirePermission(ctx, "plugin-settings");
+  return { data: { chrome: ctx.chrome, model: buildPluginSettingsModel({ chrome: ctx.chrome, settings: ctx.declaredSettings, t: ctx.t }) }, view: "plugin-settings" };
+};

examples/plugins/admin/admin-shared.test.ts

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ function fakeCtx(opts: { body?: string; method?: string; user?: User | null; ver
   const req = Readable.from(opts.body != null ? [Buffer.from(opts.body)] : []) as unknown as IncomingMessage;
   req.method = opts.method ?? "GET";
   return {
-    chrome: CHROME, declaredPermissions: [], user: opts.user ?? null, locale: "en-US", localeHref: (href) => href, locales: ["en-US"], log: {} as Log, params: {},
+    chrome: CHROME, declaredPermissions: [], declaredSettings: [], user: opts.user ?? null, locale: "en-US", localeHref: (href) => href, locales: ["en-US"], log: {} as Log, params: {},
     query: url.searchParams, req, res: {} as ServerResponse, permissions: opts.user?.permissions ?? [], t: ADMIN_EN, url,
     verifyCsrf: opts.verifyCsrf ?? (() => true),
   };
@@ -27,21 +27,21 @@ function fakeCtx(opts: { body?: string; method?: string; user?: User | null; ver
 
 // ---- nav fragment ----
 
-test("ADMIN_NAV: an ungated Admin header whose three screens each gate on their own read permission", () => {
+test("ADMIN_NAV: an ungated Admin header whose screens each gate on their own read permission", () => {
   assert.equal(ADMIN_NAV.id, "admin");
   // No gate on the header: a user may hold one screen's permission and not another's. composeNav
-  // drops a header left with no visible children, so holding none of the three hides the section.
+  // drops a header left with no visible children, so holding none of them hides the section.
   // Both halves matter — give the header an `href` and it survives the filter as a visible leaf,
   // ungated, for anonymous visitors included.
   assert.equal(ADMIN_NAV.permission, undefined);
   assert.equal(ADMIN_NAV.href, undefined);
   assert.equal(ADMIN_NAV.open, undefined); // the host current-marks + opens; the fragment stays static
-  assert.deepEqual(ADMIN_NAV.children?.map((c) => c.href), ["/admin/users", "/admin/groups", "/admin/clients"]);
-  assert.deepEqual(ADMIN_NAV.children?.map((c) => c.permission), ["users:read", "groups:read", "oauth2-clients:read"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(ADMIN_NAV.children?.map((c) => c.href), ["/admin/users", "/admin/groups", "/admin/clients", "/admin/plugin-settings"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(ADMIN_NAV.children?.map((c) => c.permission), ["users:read", "groups:read", "oauth2-clients:read", "plugin-settings:read"]);
   // Labels are catalog keys; the host translates them with this plugin's catalog when it composes
   // the menu, so what a visitor sees is the en-US (or sv-SE …) wording behind these keys.
-  assert.deepEqual(ADMIN_NAV.children?.map((c) => c.label), ["admin.nav.users", "admin.nav.groups", "admin.nav.clients"]);
-  assert.deepEqual(ADMIN_NAV.children?.map((c) => ADMIN_EN(c.label)), ["Users", "Groups", "OAuth2 clients"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(ADMIN_NAV.children?.map((c) => c.label), ["admin.nav.users", "admin.nav.groups", "admin.nav.clients", "admin.nav.pluginSettings"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(ADMIN_NAV.children?.map((c) => ADMIN_EN(c.label)), ["Users", "Groups", "OAuth2 clients", "Plugin settings"]);
   assert.ok(ADMIN_NAV.children?.every((c) => c.current === undefined));
 });
 

examples/plugins/admin/admin-shared.ts

@@ -12,12 +12,13 @@ export const ADMIN_EN: Translate = englishTranslator(enUS);
 export const ADMIN_USERS_BASE = "/admin/users";
 export const ADMIN_GROUPS_BASE = "/admin/groups";
 export const ADMIN_CLIENTS_BASE = "/admin/clients";
+export const ADMIN_PLUGIN_SETTINGS_BASE = "/admin/plugin-settings";
 
 // One resource per screen — the `<resource>` half of every permission this plugin gates on.
 // `oauth2-clients` rather than `clients` because permission names are one global namespace.
 // There is no `permissions` resource: permissions are declared in plugin code, not created here, so
 // holding a grant is a property of a user or a group and is edited on those two screens.
-export type AdminResource = "groups" | "oauth2-clients" | "users";
+export type AdminResource = "groups" | "oauth2-clients" | "plugin-settings" | "users";
 
 export type AdminAction = "read" | "write";
 
@@ -34,19 +35,20 @@ export function actionForMethod(method: string): AdminAction {
   return verb === "GET" || verb === "HEAD" ? "read" : "write";
 }
 
-// The plugin's nav fragment: an ungated "Admin" header + its three screens, each gated on its own
-// read permission. The header carries no `permission` because a user may hold one screen's and not
-// another's; composeNav drops a header left with no visible children, so a user holding none of the
-// three never sees the section. The host current-marks the active item — no `current`/`open` here.
+// The plugin's nav fragment: the "Admin" header + its four screens, each gated on its own read
+// permission. composeNav drops a header left with no visible children, so a user holding none of
+// them never sees the section. The host current-marks the active item — no `current`/`open` here.
 export const ADMIN_NAV: NavNode = {
   children: [
     { href: ADMIN_USERS_BASE, icon: "i-users", id: "users", label: "admin.nav.users", permission: permissionName("users", "read") },
     { href: ADMIN_GROUPS_BASE, icon: "i-layers", id: "groups", label: "admin.nav.groups", permission: permissionName("groups", "read") },
     { href: ADMIN_CLIENTS_BASE, icon: "i-globe", id: "clients", label: "admin.nav.clients", permission: permissionName("oauth2-clients", "read") },
+    { href: ADMIN_PLUGIN_SETTINGS_BASE, icon: "i-sliders", id: "plugin-settings", label: "admin.nav.pluginSettings", permission: permissionName("plugin-settings", "read") },
   ],
   icon: "i-shield",
   id: "admin",
   label: "admin.nav.section", // a key in this plugin's catalog; the host translates nav labels
+  public: true, // the header gates nothing; every child needs a permission, and an empty header is dropped
 };
 
 // The screen gate: a signed-in user holding this request's `<resource>:<action>`. Each route already

examples/plugins/admin/i18n/en-US.ts

@@ -83,9 +83,29 @@ const messages = {
 
   "admin.nav.clients": "OAuth2 clients",
   "admin.nav.groups": "Groups",
+  "admin.nav.pluginSettings": "Plugin settings",
   "admin.nav.section": "Admin",
   "admin.nav.users": "Users",
 
+  "admin.pluginSettings.caption": "Settings declared by {{plugin}}",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.description": "Description",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.key": "Key",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.required": "Required",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.source": "Source",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.type": "Type",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.value": "Value",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.variable": "Variable",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.no": "No",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.none": "This plugin declares no settings.",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.secretSet": "Secret — set",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.secretUnset": "Secret — not set",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.source.default": "Default",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.source.env": "Environment",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.source.unset": "Not set",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.title": "Plugin settings",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.unset": "—",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.yes": "Yes",
+
   "admin.notFound.message": "That item doesn't exist.",
   "admin.notFound.title": "Not found",
 

examples/plugins/admin/i18n/sv-SE.ts

@@ -83,9 +83,29 @@ const messages: AdminMessages = {
 
   "admin.nav.clients": "OAuth2-klienter",
   "admin.nav.groups": "Grupper",
+  "admin.nav.pluginSettings": "Tilläggsinställningar",
   "admin.nav.section": "Administration",
   "admin.nav.users": "Användare",
 
+  "admin.pluginSettings.caption": "Inställningar som {{plugin}} deklarerar",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.description": "Beskrivning",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.key": "Nyckel",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.required": "Obligatorisk",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.source": "Källa",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.type": "Typ",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.value": "Värde",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.column.variable": "Variabel",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.no": "Nej",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.none": "Det här tillägget deklarerar inga inställningar.",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.secretSet": "Hemlighet — satt",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.secretUnset": "Hemlighet — inte satt",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.source.default": "Standardvärde",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.source.env": "Miljövariabel",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.source.unset": "Inte satt",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.title": "Tilläggsinställningar",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.unset": "—",
+  "admin.pluginSettings.yes": "Ja",
+
   "admin.notFound.message": "Objektet finns inte.",
   "admin.notFound.title": "Hittades inte",
 

examples/plugins/admin/plugin.test.ts

@@ -35,17 +35,20 @@ test("every nav permission is one the manifest declares", () => {
     }
   };
   walk(manifest.nav);
-  assert.equal(navPermissions.length, 3);
+  assert.equal(navPermissions.length, 4);
   for (const name of navPermissions) assert.ok(declared.includes(name), `nav gates on undeclared ${name}`);
 });
 
 test("every declared permission is <resource>:<action>, and reads and writes are split per resource", () => {
   for (const name of declared) assert.ok(isValidPermissionName(name), name); // the host's rule, not a copy of it
-  // Three screens × read/write. There is deliberately no `permissions:` pair: permissions are
-  // declared in plugin code, so holding one is edited on the user or group that holds it.
+  // Three CRUD screens × read/write, plus read-only plugin settings — a screen that never writes
+  // declares no `:write`, since a permission nothing gates on is one an operator can only mis-grant.
+  // There is deliberately no `permissions:` pair either: permissions are declared in plugin code, so
+  // holding one is edited on the user or group that holds it.
   assert.deepEqual([...declared].sort(), [
     "groups:read", "groups:write",
     "oauth2-clients:read", "oauth2-clients:write",
+    "plugin-settings:read",
     "users:read", "users:write",
   ]);
 });
@@ -58,5 +61,5 @@ test("GET routes gate on read and mutations on write, so a reader can open a scr
     const action = route.method === "GET" && !writeIntent(route.path) ? "read" : "write";
     assert.ok(route.permission?.endsWith(`:${action}`), `${route.method} ${route.path} → ${route.permission}`);
   }
-  assert.equal(routes.filter((r) => r.method === "GET" && writeIntent(r.path)).length, 6); // 2 per screen
+  assert.equal(routes.filter((r) => r.method === "GET" && writeIntent(r.path)).length, 6); // 2 per CRUD screen; plugin settings has none
 });

examples/plugins/admin/plugin.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import { definePlugin, type HttpMethod, type Route, type RouteHandler } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
 import { clientsCreate, clientsDeleteConfirm, clientsDelete, clientsDetail, clientsList, clientsNewForm } from "./admin-clients.ts";
 import { groupsAddMember, groupsCreate, groupsDelete, groupsDeleteConfirm, groupsDetail, groupsList, groupsNewForm, groupsPermissions, groupsRemoveMember } from "./admin-groups.ts";
+import { pluginSettingsList } from "./admin-plugin-settings.ts";
 import { usersCreate, usersDeleteConfirm, usersDelete, usersEditForm, usersList, usersNewForm, usersPermissions, usersRecovery, usersState, usersUpdate } from "./admin-users.ts";
 import { ADMIN_NAV, actionForMethod, type AdminAction, type AdminResource, permissionName } from "./admin-shared.ts";
 
@@ -24,9 +25,10 @@ const on = (resource: AdminResource) => (method: HttpMethod, path: string, handl
 const users = on("users");
 const groups = on("groups");
 const clients = on("oauth2-clients");
+const pluginSettings = on("plugin-settings");
 
 export default definePlugin({
-  apiVersion: "0.1.0", // the host contract this was built against — a literal, never HOST_API_VERSION
+  apiVersion: "0.4.0", // the host contract this was built against — a literal, never HOST_API_VERSION
 
   nav: [ADMIN_NAV],
 
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@ export default definePlugin({
     { description: "Create and delete groups, and change their members and permissions", name: "groups:write" },
     { description: "View OAuth2 clients", name: "oauth2-clients:read" },
     { description: "Register and delete OAuth2 clients", name: "oauth2-clients:write" },
+    { description: "View the settings each installed plugin declares, and how they resolved", name: "plugin-settings:read" },
   ],
 
   routes: [
@@ -68,5 +71,7 @@ export default definePlugin({
     clients("GET", "/clients/:id", clientsDetail),
     clients("GET", "/clients/:id/delete", clientsDeleteConfirm, "write"),
     clients("POST", "/clients/:id/delete", clientsDelete),
+    // Plugin settings — read-only, so no :write route and no write-intent GET.
+    pluginSettings("GET", "/plugin-settings", pluginSettingsList),
   ],
 });

examples/plugins/admin/views/plugin-settings.ejs

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<%#
+  Plugin settings admin list: one section per installed plugin, each a table of what it declares
+  and how each key resolved (admin-plugin-settings.ts). Read-only — no actions, no forms.
+%><%
+  const nav = include("partials/nav-tree", { nodes: chrome.nav });
+  let body = "";
+  for (const group of model.groups) {
+    // A plugin id is the folder name, which discovery constrains to [a-z0-9-] — no escaping needed.
+    body += '<h2 class="h2">' + group.pluginId + "</h2>";
+    body += group.table.rows.length === 0
+      ? '<p class="muted">' + group.emptyText + "</p>"
+      : include("partials/data-table", group.table);
+  }
+-%>
+<%- include("partials/shell", {
+  body,
+  brand: chrome.brand,
+  breadcrumbs: model.breadcrumbs,
+  csrfToken: chrome.csrfToken,
+  nav,
+  theme: chrome.theme,
+  title: model.title,
+  user: chrome.user,
+}) %>

examples/plugins/scheduling/README.md

@@ -15,8 +15,12 @@ What it demonstrates:
   `POST /scheduling/shifts` CSRF-verifies it (`ctx.verifyCsrf`) and forwards the create upstream,
   then POST-redirect-GET. The form body lives in the plugin's own `views/partials/shift-form.ejs`,
   reusing the core `field` partial.
-- **Permission-gated nav** — the "Shifts" nav leaf and routes are gated on `scheduling:read` /
-  `scheduling:write`; the whole "Scheduling" section is invisible to anyone without the grant.
+- **All three route gates** — the Overview is `public` (anyone), "My shifts" is `session` (any
+  signed-in visitor, showing only rows assigned to them), and "Shifts" is gated on `scheduling:read` /
+  `scheduling:write`; a leaf whose gate a visitor fails is invisible in the menu.
+- **Ownership joined on the identity id** — "My shifts" asks the upstream for `assigneeId=ctx.user.id`,
+  the opaque subject id, and renders the row's separate `assignee` display name. An email address is
+  user-changeable and can be reassigned to someone else, who would then inherit those rows.
 - **Its own translations** — every string comes from `i18n/en-US.ts` (`sv-SE.ts` beside it), including
   the nav labels, which are catalog keys in the manifest. `shifts.count` shows a plural message, and
   the views carry the visitor's language onto their links with `localeHref()`.
@@ -27,7 +31,7 @@ The plugin holds **no state** — data lives upstream (README → *Stateless*).
 
 ## Upstream
 
-Set `SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM` to your backend's base URL. The dev compose points it at a tiny in-memory
+Set `PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM` to your backend's base URL. The dev compose points it at a tiny in-memory
 mock (`examples/shifts-upstream/`) so `docker compose up` shows the plugin working out of the box.
 A malformed/non-http URL fails the boot loudly (the plugin's `onBoot` hook).
 
@@ -38,9 +42,14 @@ Your backend must expose two routes; the plugin treats any non-2xx as a recovera
 
 | Route | Request | Success | Response body |
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
-| `GET /shifts` | `Accept: application/json` | `200` | JSON array of `{ id, title, assignee, start, end }` (all strings; missing fields coerce to `""`) |
+| `GET /shifts` | `Accept: application/json`, optional `?assigneeId=<id>` | `200` | JSON array of `{ id, title, assignee, assigneeId, start, end }` (all strings; missing fields coerce to `""`). With `assigneeId`, only that person's rows |
 | `POST /shifts` | JSON body `{ title, assignee, start, end }` | `2xx` | ignored (the plugin POST-redirect-GETs back to the list) |
 
+`POST /shifts` carries the assignee as a **display name only**, so a shift created through this
+plugin's form belongs to nobody and surfaces on no one's "My shifts" — don't go hunting for it
+there. Resolving a name to an identity id needs a directory this demo has none of; a real backend
+does that join at create time and stores the `assigneeId` alongside the name.
+
 Domain rules (overlap, capacity, time ordering) live in your backend — reject with a 4xx and the
 form re-renders. The plugin only validates that `title` and `assignee` are non-empty.
 
@@ -50,6 +59,8 @@ cosmetically) — normalise to your backend's format there if it matters.
 
 ## Granting access
 
-A user sees Scheduling once they hold the `scheduling:read` permission in Keto (and `scheduling:write`
-to create). The one-command bootstrap grants both to the demo admin, so the seeded
-`admin@plainpages.local` can use it immediately.
+A user sees the shift list once they hold the `scheduling:read` permission in Keto (and
+`scheduling:write` to create). The one-command bootstrap grants both to the demo admin, so the seeded
+`admin@plainpages.local` can use it immediately. "My shifts" needs no grant at all — signing in is
+its whole gate; it lists the rows this demo upstream holds against the signed-in visitor's id, and
+the demo's seeded rows belong to three made-up people, so a freshly seeded admin sees it empty.

examples/plugins/scheduling/i18n/en-US.ts

@@ -13,12 +13,16 @@ const messages = {
   "scheduling.filter.searchLabel": "Search shifts",
   "scheduling.filter.searchPlaceholder": "Search title or assignee…",
   "scheduling.form.submit": "Create shift",
+  "scheduling.mine.empty": "No shifts are assigned to {{email}}.",
+  "scheduling.mine.title": "My shifts",
+  "scheduling.nav.mine": "My shifts",
   "scheduling.nav.overview": "Overview",
   "scheduling.nav.section": "Scheduling",
   "scheduling.nav.shifts": "Shifts",
   "scheduling.new.title": "New shift",
   "scheduling.overview.lead":
     "Scheduling coordinates shifts across your team. Anyone can read this overview; the shift list itself is available to people with the <code>scheduling:read</code> permission.",
+  "scheduling.overview.mine": "See my shifts",
   "scheduling.overview.signIn": "Sign in to view shifts",
   "scheduling.overview.title": "Scheduling",
   "scheduling.overview.view": "View shifts",

examples/plugins/scheduling/i18n/sv-SE.ts

@@ -9,12 +9,16 @@ const messages: SchedulingMessages = {
   "scheduling.filter.searchLabel": "Sök pass",
   "scheduling.filter.searchPlaceholder": "Sök på namn eller person…",
   "scheduling.form.submit": "Skapa pass",
+  "scheduling.mine.empty": "Inga pass är tilldelade {{email}}.",
+  "scheduling.mine.title": "Mina pass",
+  "scheduling.nav.mine": "Mina pass",
   "scheduling.nav.overview": "Översikt",
   "scheduling.nav.section": "Schemaläggning",
   "scheduling.nav.shifts": "Pass",
   "scheduling.new.title": "Nytt pass",
   "scheduling.overview.lead":
     "Schemaläggningen samordnar teamets pass. Alla kan läsa den här översikten; själva passlistan kräver behörigheten <code>scheduling:read</code>.",
+  "scheduling.overview.mine": "Visa mina pass",
   "scheduling.overview.signIn": "Logga in för att se passen",
   "scheduling.overview.title": "Schemaläggning",
   "scheduling.overview.view": "Visa pass",

examples/plugins/scheduling/plugin.ts

@@ -3,19 +3,20 @@
 // folder, rename it, point it at your own backend. Full contract: README.md → Building plugins.
 
 import { definePlugin } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
-import { assertHttpUrl, createShift, createUpstream, listShifts, newShiftForm, overview, READ, SCHEDULING_PATH, SHIFTS_PATH, WRITE } from "./shifts.ts";
+import { createShift, createUpstream, listShifts, MINE_PATH, myShifts, newShiftForm, overview, READ, SCHEDULING_PATH, SHIFTS_PATH, WRITE } from "./shifts.ts";
 
 // The upstream this plugin reads/writes — a stand-in for your real backend (the plugin is
-// stateless). Configure via env; the dev compose points it at a tiny mock (examples/shifts-upstream).
-const upstreamUrl = process.env["SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM"] ?? "http://shifts-upstream:4000";
-const upstream = createUpstream(upstreamUrl);
+// stateless). Its URL is a declared setting, so it is resolved and validated before onBoot hands it
+// over — which is after this manifest is built, hence the getter.
+let upstreamUrl = "";
+const upstream = createUpstream(() => upstreamUrl);
 
 export default definePlugin({
-  apiVersion: "0.1.0", // the host contract this was built against — a literal, never HOST_API_VERSION
+  apiVersion: "0.4.0", // the host contract this was built against — a literal, never HOST_API_VERSION
 
-  // onBoot runs after discovery, before the server listens: validate the plugin's own config so a
-  // typo'd SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM fails the boot loudly instead of degrading every request later.
-  hooks: { onBoot: () => assertHttpUrl(upstreamUrl, "SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM") },
+  // onBoot runs after discovery, before the server listens — where a plugin receives its resolved
+  // settings. A malformed URL already failed the boot by then; the host validated the declared type.
+  hooks: { onBoot: ({ settings }) => { upstreamUrl = settings.upstream; } },
 
   // Merged into the global menu + filtered per user. Labels are keys in this plugin's own catalog
   // (i18n/<locale>.ts) — a plain string works too, it just isn't translated. "Overview" is `public`, so the "Scheduling"
@@ -24,11 +25,13 @@ export default definePlugin({
   nav: [{
     children: [
       { href: SCHEDULING_PATH, id: "scheduling:overview", label: "scheduling.nav.overview", public: true },
+      { href: MINE_PATH, id: "scheduling:mine", label: "scheduling.nav.mine", session: true },
       { href: SHIFTS_PATH, id: "scheduling:shifts", label: "scheduling.nav.shifts", permission: READ },
     ],
     icon: "i-cal",
     id: "scheduling",
     label: "scheduling.nav.section",
+    public: true, // the header gates nothing; each child names its own gate, and an empty header is dropped
   }],
 
   // Roles this plugin introduces (docs + Keto seeding). Namespaced `<id>:<action>`.
@@ -37,12 +40,22 @@ export default definePlugin({
     { description: "Create and edit shifts", name: WRITE },
   ],
 
-  // Mounted under /scheduling; `permission` gates before the handler runs. The overview is `public`
-  // (anyone may reach /scheduling, signed in or not); the rest need a permission.
   routes: [
     { handler: overview(), method: "GET", path: "/", public: true },
+    { handler: myShifts(upstream), method: "GET", path: "/mine", session: true },
     { handler: listShifts(upstream), method: "GET", path: "/shifts", permission: READ },
     { handler: newShiftForm(), method: "GET", path: "/shifts/new", permission: WRITE },
     { handler: createShift(upstream), method: "POST", path: "/shifts", permission: WRITE },
   ],
+
+  // Operator-supplied config: one PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM variable, validated as a URL at
+  // boot. The default points at the mock backend the dev compose runs (examples/shifts-upstream).
+  settings: [
+    {
+      default: "http://shifts-upstream:4000",
+      description: "Base URL of the backend this plugin reads shifts from and writes them to",
+      key: "upstream",
+      type: "url",
+    },
+  ],
 });

examples/plugins/scheduling/shifts.test.ts

@@ -4,29 +4,29 @@ import { Readable } from "node:stream";
 import test from "node:test";
 // Import only from the @plainpages/plugin-api barrel — the same contract boundary shifts.ts uses (the host may
 // refactor any deeper src/* freely behind it); the test models the dev/test story the contract preaches.
-import { englishTranslator, GuardError, Log, type PageChrome, type RequestContext, type RouteResult } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
+import { englishTranslator, GuardError, Log, type PageChrome, type RequestContext, type RouteResult, type User } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
 import enUS from "./i18n/en-US.ts";
 import {
-  assertHttpUrl, buildFormModel, createShift, createUpstream, listShifts, newShiftForm, overview, readInput,
+  buildFormModel, createShift, createUpstream, listShifts, myShifts, newShiftForm, overview, readInput,
   SHIFTS_PATH, type Shift, type ShiftInput, type ShiftsUpstream, UpstreamError, validate,
 } from "./shifts.ts";
 
 const t = englishTranslator(enUS); // this plugin's catalog then the host's, as the host would chain them
 const CHROME: PageChrome = { brand: { name: "Test" }, csrfToken: "tok", nav: [], signInHref: "/login", user: { email: "", initials: "T", name: "Tester" } };
 
-function fakeCtx(opts: { body?: string; permissions?: string[]; url?: string; verifyCsrf?: (s: string | null | undefined) => boolean } = {}): RequestContext {
+function fakeCtx(opts: { body?: string; permissions?: string[]; url?: string; user?: User; verifyCsrf?: (s: string | null | undefined) => boolean } = {}): RequestContext {
   const url = new URL(opts.url ?? "http://localhost/scheduling/shifts");
   const req = Readable.from(opts.body != null ? [Buffer.from(opts.body)] : []) as unknown as IncomingMessage;
   return {
-    chrome: CHROME, declaredPermissions: [], user: null, locale: "en-US", localeHref: (href) => href, locales: ["en-US"], log: new Log("none"), params: {},
+    chrome: CHROME, declaredPermissions: [], declaredSettings: [], user: opts.user ?? null, locale: "en-US", localeHref: (href) => href, locales: ["en-US"], log: new Log("none"), params: {},
     query: url.searchParams, req, res: {} as ServerResponse, permissions: opts.permissions ?? [], t, url,
     verifyCsrf: opts.verifyCsrf ?? (() => true),
   };
 }
 
 const SHIFTS: Shift[] = [
-  { assignee: "Avery Kline", end: "12:00", id: "1", start: "08:00", title: "Morning desk" },
-  { assignee: "Blair Mora", end: "17:00", id: "2", start: "12:00", title: "Afternoon support" },
+  { assignee: "Avery Kline", assigneeId: "019bdc1a-3f27-7c41-9a6e-2b1d4f8e05a3", end: "12:00", id: "1", start: "08:00", title: "Morning desk" },
+  { assignee: "Blair Mora", assigneeId: "019bdc1a-4a83-7de2-8f05-6c93a71be4d8", end: "17:00", id: "2", start: "12:00", title: "Afternoon support" },
 ];
 const fakeUpstream = (over: Partial<ShiftsUpstream> = {}): ShiftsUpstream => ({ create: async () => {}, list: async () => SHIFTS, ...over });
 
@@ -35,27 +35,25 @@ const asView = (r: RouteResult | void) => {
   return r as { data: Record<string, unknown>; status?: number; view: string };
 };
 
-// ---- upstream config validation (the onBoot hook) ----
+// ---- the upstream URL as a declared setting ----
 
-test("assertHttpUrl accepts http(s) and fails loud on a malformed or non-http upstream URL", () => {
-  assert.doesNotThrow(() => assertHttpUrl("http://shifts-upstream:4000", "SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM"));
-  assert.doesNotThrow(() => assertHttpUrl("https://api.example.com/v1", "SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM"));
-  assert.throws(() => assertHttpUrl("not a url", "SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM"), /SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM.*valid URL/); // unparseable
-  assert.throws(() => assertHttpUrl("shifts-upstream:4000", "SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM"), /SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM.*http/); // missing // → parsed as a bogus scheme
-  assert.throws(() => assertHttpUrl("ftp://host/x", "SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM"), /SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM.*http/); // wrong scheme
+test("the manifest declares its upstream as a URL setting the host validates", async () => {
+  const manifest = (await import("./plugin.ts")).default;
+  assert.deepEqual(manifest.settings?.map((s) => s.key), ["upstream"]);
+  assert.equal(manifest.settings?.[0]?.type, "url"); // so a typo'd URL fails the boot, not every request
+  assert.equal(manifest.settings?.[0]?.default, "http://shifts-upstream:4000"); // the dev compose's mock
+  assert.equal(typeof manifest.hooks?.onBoot, "function"); // without it the resolved value never arrives
 });
 
-test("the manifest's onBoot hook validates SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM (the binding, not just the helper)", async () => {
-  const prev = process.env["SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM"];
-  process.env["SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM"] = "nope://bad"; // read at import time below
-  try {
-    const manifest = (await import("./plugin.ts")).default;
-    assert.equal(typeof manifest.hooks?.onBoot, "function");
-    assert.throws(() => manifest.hooks!.onBoot!({}), /SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM/); // bad upstream → boot fails loud
-  } finally {
-    if (prev === undefined) delete process.env["SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM"];
-    else process.env["SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM"] = prev;
-  }
+test("the client re-reads its base URL, so onBoot can bind it after the manifest is built", async () => {
+  let baseUrl = "http://first:4000";
+  const seen: string[] = [];
+  const http = (async (url) => { seen.push(String(url)); return new Response("[]", { status: 200 }); }) as typeof fetch;
+  const upstream = createUpstream(() => baseUrl, http);
+  await upstream.list();
+  baseUrl = "http://second:4000";
+  await upstream.list();
+  assert.deepEqual(seen, ["http://first:4000/shifts", "http://second:4000/shifts"]);
 });
 
 // ---- upstream client (fetch injected) ----
@@ -65,23 +63,23 @@ test("createUpstream.list fetches /shifts, asks for JSON, and maps the rows", as
   const http = (async (url, init) => {
     seen = String(url);
     assert.equal((init?.headers as Record<string, string>).accept, "application/json");
-    return new Response(JSON.stringify([{ assignee: "A", end: "2", id: "x", start: "1", title: "T", extra: "ignored" }]), { status: 200 });
+    return new Response(JSON.stringify([{ assignee: "A", assigneeId: "019bdc1a-5b6e-7a90-b3c7-84f01d2ea9b6", end: "2", id: "x", start: "1", title: "T", extra: "ignored" }]), { status: 200 });
   }) as typeof fetch;
-  const shifts = await createUpstream("http://up:4000/", http).list(); // trailing slash trimmed
+  const shifts = await createUpstream(() => "http://up:4000/", http).list(); // trailing slash trimmed
   assert.equal(seen, "http://up:4000/shifts");
-  assert.deepEqual(shifts, [{ assignee: "A", end: "2", id: "x", start: "1", title: "T" }]);
+  assert.deepEqual(shifts, [{ assignee: "A", assigneeId: "019bdc1a-5b6e-7a90-b3c7-84f01d2ea9b6", end: "2", id: "x", start: "1", title: "T" }]);
 });
 
 test("createUpstream throws UpstreamError carrying the status on a non-2xx", async () => {
   const http = (async () => new Response("nope", { status: 503 })) as typeof fetch;
-  await assert.rejects(createUpstream("http://up:4000", http).list(), (e: unknown) => e instanceof UpstreamError && e.status === 503);
+  await assert.rejects(createUpstream(() => "http://up:4000", http).list(), (e: unknown) => e instanceof UpstreamError && e.status === 503);
 });
 
 test("createUpstream.create POSTs the input as JSON", async () => {
   let body: unknown, method = "";
   const http = (async (_url, init) => { method = init?.method ?? ""; body = JSON.parse(String(init?.body)); return new Response(null, { status: 201 }); }) as typeof fetch;
   const input: ShiftInput = { assignee: "A", end: "2", start: "1", title: "T" };
-  await createUpstream("http://up:4000", http).create(input);
+  await createUpstream(() => "http://up:4000", http).create(input);
   assert.equal(method, "POST");
   assert.deepEqual(body, input);
 });
@@ -117,14 +115,21 @@ test("listShifts degrades to a recoverable error page when the upstream is down
 
 // ---- public overview handler (a page anyone can reach, gated data stays behind the permission) ----
 
-test("overview renders a public page for anyone; it links straight to Shifts only for a reader", async () => {
+test("overview renders a public page for anyone, and its CTA names the best gate the visitor passes", async () => {
   const anon = asView(await overview()(fakeCtx())); // user null, no permissions
   assert.equal(anon.view, "overview");
   assert.equal(anon.data["chrome"], CHROME);
   assert.equal(anon.data["canRead"], false); // anonymous → prompt to sign in, no shifts link
+  assert.equal(anon.data["signedIn"], false);
 
   const reader = asView(await overview()(fakeCtx({ permissions: ["scheduling:read"] })));
   assert.equal(reader.data["canRead"], true); // a reader gets a link straight to the shifts list
+
+  // Signed in but ungranted: the page must not invite them to sign in again.
+  const member = asView(await overview()(fakeCtx({ user: { email: "m@example.test", id: "01a06091-baa3-7a1f-9c62-0e3ab6d2f5c1", permissions: [] } })));
+  assert.equal(member.data["canRead"], false);
+  assert.equal(member.data["signedIn"], true);
+  assert.equal(member.data["mineHref"], "/scheduling/mine");
 });
 
 // ---- create handler ----
@@ -173,3 +178,38 @@ test("buildFormModel marks title/assignee required and attaches field errors", (
   assert.equal(title.error, "needed");
   assert.equal(fields.find((f) => f.name === "start")!.required, undefined);
 });
+
+// ---- the session-gated page: the visitor's own rows ----
+
+test("my shifts scopes the upstream read by the visitor's id, and names them in the empty state", async () => {
+  const user: User = { email: "Blair.Mora@example.test", id: "01a06091-baa3-71f4-a068-4879972979ff", permissions: [] };
+  const mine: Shift = { assignee: "Blair Mora", assigneeId: user.id, end: "22:00", id: "3", start: "17:00", title: "Evening on-call" };
+  let asked: { assigneeId?: string } | undefined;
+
+  const upstream = fakeUpstream({ list: async (opts) => { asked = opts; return [mine]; } });
+  const r = asView(await myShifts(upstream)(fakeCtx({ url: "http://localhost/scheduling/mine", user })));
+  assert.equal(r.view, "mine");
+  assert.deepEqual(asked, { assigneeId: "01a06091-baa3-71f4-a068-4879972979ff" }); // the id, never the address
+  const table = r.data["table"] as { emptyText: string; rows: { name: string }[] };
+  assert.deepEqual(table.rows.map((row) => row.name), ["Evening on-call"]);
+  assert.match(table.emptyText, /Blair\.Mora@example\.test/); // an empty page still says whose it is
+
+  // `requireSession` narrows `ctx.user` from `User | null` to `User` — the one part of the route's
+  // `session: true` guarantee the contract cannot state in the handler's type.
+  await assert.rejects(async () => { await myShifts(fakeUpstream())(fakeCtx()); }, GuardError);
+});
+
+test("my shifts degrades to the reason alone when the upstream is down, claiming nothing about what is assigned", async () => {
+  const user: User = { email: "Blair.Mora@example.test", id: "01a06091-baa3-71f4-a068-4879972979ff", permissions: [] };
+  const down = fakeUpstream({ list: async () => { throw new UpstreamError("down", 503); } });
+  const r = asView(await myShifts(down)(fakeCtx({ url: "http://localhost/scheduling/mine", user })));
+  assert.match(String(r.data["error"]), /scheduling service/i);
+  assert.deepEqual((r.data["table"] as { rows: unknown[] }).rows, []); // mine.ejs drops the count + table while `error` is set
+});
+
+test("my shifts drops a row the upstream returned that is not the visitor's", async () => {
+  const user: User = { email: "Blair.Mora@example.test", id: "01a06091-baa3-71f4-a068-4879972979ff", permissions: [] };
+  const theirs: Shift = { assignee: "Avery Kline", assigneeId: "019bdc1a-3f27-7c41-9a6e-2b1d4f8e05a3", end: "12:00", id: "9", start: "08:00", title: "Not mine" };
+  const r = asView(await myShifts(fakeUpstream({ list: async () => [theirs] }))(fakeCtx({ url: "http://localhost/scheduling/mine", user })));
+  assert.deepEqual((r.data["table"] as { rows: unknown[] }).rows, []); // a backend ignoring the scope must not leak through this page
+});

examples/plugins/scheduling/shifts.ts

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 // pure functions against a mock upstream with no network (README.md → Local dev & test story).
 
 // One import from the host's @plainpages/plugin-api barrel — the stable author surface (see README.md → Building plugins).
-import { can, CSRF_FIELD, englishTranslator, GuardError, type PageChrome, parseListQuery, readFormBody, type RouteHandler, type Translate, tracedFetch } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
+import { can, CSRF_FIELD, englishTranslator, GuardError, type PageChrome, parseListQuery, readFormBody, requireSession, type RouteHandler, type Translate, tracedFetch } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
 import enUS from "./i18n/en-US.ts";
 
 // The plugin's own English (its catalog, then the host's), for a view model built outside a request:
@@ -16,12 +16,14 @@ const EN: Translate = englishTranslator(enUS);
 
 export const SCHEDULING_PATH = "/scheduling"; // the plugin's public overview page
 export const SHIFTS_PATH = "/scheduling/shifts";
+export const MINE_PATH = "/scheduling/mine"; // the visitor's own shifts — a session is the whole gate
 export const READ = "scheduling:read"; // the permission gating the list + nav
 export const WRITE = "scheduling:write"; // the permission gating create
 
 export interface Shift {
   id: string;
-  assignee: string;
+  assignee: string; // display name, rendered in the table
+  assigneeId: string; // who the shift belongs to — an opaque id, the same one `ctx.user.id` carries
   end: string;
   start: string;
   title: string;
@@ -46,37 +48,30 @@ export class UpstreamError extends Error {
 
 export interface ShiftsUpstream {
   create(input: ShiftInput): Promise<void>;
-  list(): Promise<Shift[]>;
-}
-
-// Fail loud at boot (the plugin's onBoot hook) on a malformed/non-http upstream URL — a config
-// typo surfaces at startup, not as a degraded page later. Reachability stays a runtime concern.
-export function assertHttpUrl(value: string, name: string): void {
-  let url: URL;
-  try {
-    url = new URL(value);
-  } catch {
-    throw new Error(`${name} is not a valid URL: ${JSON.stringify(value)}`);
-  }
-  if (url.protocol !== "http:" && url.protocol !== "https:") throw new Error(`${name} must be an http(s) URL: ${JSON.stringify(value)}`);
+  // `assigneeId` scopes the read at the source, which is where an ownership rule belongs (README →
+  // Three tiers of "may I?"); without it the caller would hold everyone's rows to render one page.
+  list(opts?: { assigneeId?: string }): Promise<Shift[]>;
 }
 
 // REST client over the upstream service (a stand-in for the customer's real backend). `fetch`
 // defaults to the host's tracedFetch, so each upstream call joins the request's trace (a client
 // span + a propagated traceparent); it's injectable so handlers unit-test against a mock, no network.
-export function createUpstream(baseUrl: string, fetchImpl: typeof fetch = tracedFetch): ShiftsUpstream {
-  const base = baseUrl.replace(/\/+$/, "");
+// `baseUrl` is read per call: the plugin's settings arrive on onBoot, after the manifest that binds
+// these handlers has already been built.
+export function createUpstream(baseUrl: () => string, fetchImpl: typeof fetch = tracedFetch): ShiftsUpstream {
+  const base = (): string => baseUrl().replace(/\/+$/, "");
   return {
     async create(input) {
-      const res = await fetchImpl(`${base}/shifts`, {
+      const res = await fetchImpl(`${base()}/shifts`, {
         body: JSON.stringify(input),
         headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
         method: "POST",
       });
       if (!res.ok) throw new UpstreamError(`create shift failed (${res.status})`, res.status);
     },
-    async list() {
-      const res = await fetchImpl(`${base}/shifts`, { headers: { accept: "application/json" } });
+    async list(opts = {}) {
+      const query = opts.assigneeId == null ? "" : `?${new URLSearchParams({ assigneeId: opts.assigneeId })}`;
+      const res = await fetchImpl(`${base()}/shifts${query}`, { headers: { accept: "application/json" } });
       if (!res.ok) throw new UpstreamError(`list shifts failed (${res.status})`, res.status);
       const data: unknown = await res.json();
       return Array.isArray(data) ? data.map(toShift) : [];
@@ -88,7 +83,7 @@ const str = (v: unknown): string => (typeof v === "string" ? v : v == null ? ""
 
 function toShift(raw: unknown): Shift {
   const r = (raw ?? {}) as Record<string, unknown>;
-  return { assignee: str(r["assignee"]), end: str(r["end"]), id: str(r["id"]), start: str(r["start"]), title: str(r["title"]) };
+  return { assignee: str(r["assignee"]), assigneeId: str(r["assigneeId"]), end: str(r["end"]), id: str(r["id"]), start: str(r["start"]), title: str(r["title"]) };
 }
 
 // ---- view models (pure; the EJS views read these) -----------------------------------
@@ -196,6 +191,41 @@ export function newShiftForm(): RouteHandler {
   return (ctx) => ({ data: buildFormModel({ chrome: ctx.chrome, t: ctx.t }), view: "shift-new" });
 }
 
+export function myShifts(upstream: ShiftsUpstream): RouteHandler {
+  return async (ctx) => {
+    const user = requireSession(ctx);
+    let shifts: Shift[] = [];
+    let error: string | undefined;
+    try {
+      // Join on the id, never the email: an address is user-changeable and can be reassigned to
+      // someone else, which would hand them the previous holder's rows. The re-filter is
+      // defence-in-depth: a backend that ignores an unknown query param would answer with everyone.
+      shifts = (await upstream.list({ assigneeId: user.id })).filter((s) => s.assigneeId === user.id);
+    } catch (err) {
+      ctx.log.warn("scheduling upstream unreachable", { error: String(err) });
+      error = ctx.t("scheduling.upstream.list");
+    }
+    return { data: buildMineModel({ chrome: ctx.chrome, email: user.email, ...(error ? { error } : {}), shifts, t: ctx.t }), view: "mine" };
+  };
+}
+
+export function buildMineModel(opts: { chrome: PageChrome; email: string; error?: string; shifts: Shift[]; t?: Translate }) {
+  const t = opts.t ?? EN;
+  return {
+    breadcrumbs: [{ label: t("scheduling.mine.title") }],
+    chrome: opts.chrome,
+    count: t("scheduling.shifts.count", { count: opts.shifts.length }),
+    ...(opts.error ? { error: opts.error } : {}),
+    table: {
+      caption: t("scheduling.mine.title"),
+      columns: [{ label: t("scheduling.table.shift") }, { label: t("scheduling.table.start") }, { label: t("scheduling.table.end") }],
+      emptyText: t("scheduling.mine.empty", { email: opts.email }),
+      rows: opts.shifts.map((s) => ({ cells: [{ rowHeader: { text: s.title } }, s.start, s.end], name: s.title })),
+    },
+    title: t("scheduling.mine.title"),
+  };
+}
+
 // Public overview: a page anyone may reach — its route + nav node are marked `public`, so the
 // gate lets an anonymous visitor through and the menu option shows for everyone. The real data
 // (the shifts list) stays behind `scheduling:read`; a reader gets a link straight to it, anyone
@@ -206,7 +236,9 @@ export function overview(): RouteHandler {
       breadcrumbs: [{ label: ctx.t("scheduling.nav.overview") }],
       canRead: can(ctx, READ),
       chrome: ctx.chrome,
+      mineHref: ctx.localeHref(MINE_PATH),
       shiftsHref: ctx.localeHref(SHIFTS_PATH), // a plugin carries the visitor's locale onto its own links
+      signedIn: ctx.user !== null,
       signInHref: ctx.localeHref(`/login?return_to=${encodeURIComponent(ctx.localeHref(SHIFTS_PATH))}`),
       title: ctx.t("scheduling.overview.title"),
     },

examples/plugins/scheduling/views/mine.ejs

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+<%#
+  Scheduling · the visitor's own shifts (reference plugin).
+  Data: chrome, title, breadcrumbs, count, table, error?
+%><%
+  const navHtml = include("partials/nav-tree", { nodes: chrome.nav });
+  const tableHtml = include("partials/data-table", table);
+  const alertHtml = locals.error ? include("partials/alert", { text: locals.error, tone: "neg" }) : "";
+-%>
+<%- include("partials/shell", {
+  body: '<div class="scheduling-page">' + alertHtml + (locals.error ? '' : '<p class="shift-count">' + count + '</p>' + tableHtml) + '</div>',
+  brand: chrome.brand,
+  breadcrumbs,
+  csrfToken: chrome.csrfToken,
+  nav: navHtml,
+  styles: ["/public/scheduling/scheduling.css"],
+  theme: chrome.theme,
+  title,
+  user: chrome.user,
+}) %>

examples/plugins/scheduling/views/overview.ejs

@@ -3,12 +3,16 @@
   nav node are marked `public`, so an anonymous visitor is let through and the menu option shows for
   everyone. The actual shifts data stays behind `scheduling:read`: a reader gets a link straight to
   it, anyone else a prompt to sign in. Rendered in the native shell via ctx.chrome.
-  Data: chrome, title, breadcrumbs, canRead, shiftsHref, signInHref
+  Data: chrome, title, breadcrumbs, canRead, mineHref, shiftsHref, signedIn, signInHref
 %><%
   const navHtml = include("partials/nav-tree", { nodes: chrome.nav });
+  // One CTA per gate the visitor passes: the list needs the permission, "My shifts" only a session,
+  // and sign-in is offered to nobody who already has one.
   const cta = canRead
     ? '<a class="btn btn-primary" href="' + shiftsHref + '">' + t("scheduling.overview.view") + '</a>'
-    : '<a class="btn btn-primary" href="' + signInHref + '">' + t("scheduling.overview.signIn") + '</a>';
+    : signedIn
+      ? '<a class="btn btn-primary" href="' + mineHref + '">' + t("scheduling.overview.mine") + '</a>'
+      : '<a class="btn btn-primary" href="' + signInHref + '">' + t("scheduling.overview.signIn") + '</a>';
 -%>
 <%- include("partials/shell", {
   actions: "",

examples/shifts-upstream/server.ts

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 // Dev-only mock upstream for the reference plugin (examples/plugins/scheduling) — a stand-in for the
 // customer's real backend, ready for when you copy the reference plugin into plugins/. NOT part
-// of the app: stdlib only, in-memory (state resets on restart), no auth. Point SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM
+// of the app: stdlib only, in-memory (state resets on restart), no auth. Point PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM
 // at your real service in production.
 //
-//   GET  /shifts  → 200 [ { id, title, assignee, start, end }, … ]
+//   GET  /shifts  → 200 [ { id, title, assigneeId, assignee, start, end }, … ]   (?assigneeId=<id> → only theirs)
 //   POST /shifts  → 201 { id, … }   (body: { title, assignee, start, end })
 
 import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
@@ -11,10 +11,12 @@ import { createServer } from "node:http";
 
 const PORT = Number(process.env.PORT ?? 4000);
 
+// `assigneeId` is the identity the rows are owned by — an opaque, stable subject id, which is what
+// `ctx.user.id` carries. These are this demo's own people; a real backend joins on your IdP's ids.
 const shifts = [
-  { id: randomUUID(), title: "Morning — Front desk", assignee: "Avery Kline", start: "2026-06-22 08:00", end: "2026-06-22 12:00" },
-  { id: randomUUID(), title: "Afternoon — Support", assignee: "Blair Mora", start: "2026-06-22 12:00", end: "2026-06-22 17:00" },
-  { id: randomUUID(), title: "Evening — On-call", assignee: "Casey Nguyen", start: "2026-06-22 17:00", end: "2026-06-22 22:00" },
+  { id: randomUUID(), title: "Morning — Front desk", assigneeId: "019bdc1a-3f27-7c41-9a6e-2b1d4f8e05a3", assignee: "Avery Kline", start: "2026-06-22 08:00", end: "2026-06-22 12:00" },
+  { id: randomUUID(), title: "Afternoon — Support", assigneeId: "019bdc1a-4a83-7de2-8f05-6c93a71be4d8", assignee: "Blair Mora", start: "2026-06-22 12:00", end: "2026-06-22 17:00" },
+  { id: randomUUID(), title: "Evening — On-call", assigneeId: "019bdc1a-5b6e-7a90-b3c7-84f01d2ea9b6", assignee: "Casey Nguyen", start: "2026-06-22 17:00", end: "2026-06-22 22:00" },
 ];
 
 const json = (res, status, body) => {
@@ -33,10 +35,14 @@ const readBody = (req) =>
 
 createServer(async (req, res) => {
   const url = new URL(req.url ?? "/", "http://localhost");
-  if (url.pathname === "/shifts" && req.method === "GET") return json(res, 200, shifts);
+  if (url.pathname === "/shifts" && req.method === "GET") {
+    const assigneeId = url.searchParams.get("assigneeId");
+    if (assigneeId === null) return json(res, 200, shifts);
+    return json(res, 200, shifts.filter((s) => s.assigneeId === assigneeId));
+  }
   if (url.pathname === "/shifts" && req.method === "POST") {
     const b = await readBody(req);
-    const shift = { id: randomUUID(), assignee: String(b.assignee ?? ""), end: String(b.end ?? ""), start: String(b.start ?? ""), title: String(b.title ?? "") };
+    const shift = { id: randomUUID(), assignee: String(b.assignee ?? ""), assigneeId: "", end: String(b.end ?? ""), start: String(b.start ?? ""), title: String(b.title ?? "") };
     shifts.push(shift);
     return json(res, 201, shift);
   }

package-lock.json

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
       "dependencies": {
         "@larvit/log": "2.3.0",
         "ejs": "6.0.1",
-        "lucide-static": "1.33.0",
+        "lucide-static": "1.34.0",
         "postgres": "3.4.9"
       },
       "devDependencies": {
@@ -399,9 +399,9 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/lucide-static": {
-      "version": "1.33.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/lucide-static/-/lucide-static-1.33.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-jNGgvTNcLUfVRX4N9PH9pVVTJzoph/BmYmgU838bYBQodkUJL4nAThkuymFz1x3OUYMhJxPndC7rdg1sxOPYKg==",
+      "version": "1.34.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/lucide-static/-/lucide-static-1.34.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-pSUvFhfhvDnhXN1fXerZEMgKLQQ3DneKwFYlqB5ji8OEAN0iPi/qgwQvCkcL519QgMeR66IpS/pT342VyT/g4g==",
       "license": "ISC"
     },
     "node_modules/postgres": {

package.json

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@larvit/log": "2.3.0",
     "ejs": "6.0.1",
-    "lucide-static": "1.33.0",
+    "lucide-static": "1.34.0",
     "postgres": "3.4.9"
   },
   "devDependencies": {

public/css/styles.css

@@ -111,7 +111,6 @@ html:has(#theme-light:checked) {
 
 /* ---------- 2. RESET ---------------------------------------- */
 *, *::before, *::after { box-sizing: border-box; }
-html, body { height: 100%; }
 body { margin: 0; background: var(--bg); color: var(--text);
   -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; }
 button { font: inherit; color: inherit; }
@@ -151,8 +150,7 @@ summary { list-style: none; cursor: pointer; }
 .app {
   display: grid;
   grid-template-columns: var(--nav-w) minmax(0, 1fr);
-  height: 100dvh;
-  overflow: hidden;
+  min-height: 100dvh;
 }
 
 /* ---------- 4. SIDEBAR -------------------------------------- */
@@ -160,7 +158,6 @@ summary { list-style: none; cursor: pointer; }
   grid-column: 1;
   display: flex;
   flex-direction: column;
-  min-height: 0;
   background: var(--surface);
   border-right: 1px solid var(--border);
 }
@@ -316,6 +313,11 @@ span.nav-self { cursor: default; }                 /* static / non-clickable */
 .btn-primary:hover { filter: brightness(1.06); }
 .btn-ghost { background: transparent; border-color: transparent; }
 .btn-ghost:hover { background: var(--surface-2); }
+.btn-menu::after {
+  content: ""; width: 7px; height: 7px; margin: -2px 1px 0 1px;
+  border-right: 1.5px solid var(--text-faint); border-bottom: 1.5px solid var(--text-faint);
+  transform: rotate(45deg);
+}
 .icon-btn {
   width: 30px; height: 30px; padding: 0; justify-content: center;
   color: var(--text-muted);
@@ -326,7 +328,7 @@ span.nav-self { cursor: default; }                 /* static / non-clickable */
 .content {
   grid-column: 2;
   display: flex; flex-direction: column;
-  min-width: 0; min-height: 0;
+  min-width: 0;
   background: var(--bg);
 }
 
@@ -494,7 +496,8 @@ span.nav-self { cursor: default; }                 /* static / non-clickable */
   position-anchor: auto;
   position-try-fallbacks: flip-block, flip-inline;
   top: anchor(bottom); right: anchor(right);
-  min-width: 210px; padding: 6px;
+  min-width: 210px; max-width: min(320px, 92vw); padding: 6px;
+  max-height: 60vh; overflow-y: auto; overflow-wrap: anywhere;
   background: var(--surface); color: var(--text);
   border: 1px solid var(--border-2); border-radius: var(--radius);
   box-shadow: 0 8px 28px rgba(0,0,0,.16);
@@ -553,13 +556,12 @@ span.nav-self { cursor: default; }                 /* static / non-clickable */
 .pill-clear:hover { text-decoration: underline; }
 
 /* ---------- 9. TABLE --------------------------------------- */
-.table-wrap { flex: 1 1 auto; min-height: 0; overflow: auto; }
+.table-wrap { overflow-x: auto; }
 table.table {
   width: 100%; border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0;
   font-size: var(--fz); font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
 }
 .table thead th {
-  position: sticky; top: 0; z-index: 10;
   background: var(--surface-3);
   border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border-2);
   color: var(--text-muted); font-weight: 600; font-size: var(--fz-xs);
@@ -691,7 +693,7 @@ th[aria-sort="descending"] .sort-ico { transform: rotate(180deg); }
 }
 
 /* the nav-toggle checkbox itself is visually hidden but focusable */
-#nav-toggle { position: absolute; opacity: 0; pointer-events: none; }
+#nav-toggle { position: fixed; top: 0; left: 0; opacity: 0; pointer-events: none; }
 
 /* admin forms: create/edit user, account actions */
 .form-page { padding: 16px; display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 14px; max-width: 560px; }
@@ -716,5 +718,6 @@ th[aria-sort="descending"] .sort-ico { transform: rotate(180deg); }
 /* Chromeless shell: a page may drop the sidebar for a focused single column. */
 .app-bare { grid-template-columns: minmax(0, 1fr); }
 .app-bare .content { grid-column: 1; }
+
 /* Auth/landing rendered inside the app shell: a roomy, centered column in the content area. */
-.shell-auth { flex: 1 1 auto; overflow-y: auto; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: flex-start; padding: 40px 20px 80px; }
+.shell-auth { flex: 1 1 auto; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: flex-start; padding: 40px 20px 80px; }

release-tooling/contract-version.test.ts

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ test("readHostApiVersion pulls the constant out of the real source, and returns
 test("bumping HOST_API_VERSION is a deliberate act, so pin the shipped value", () => {
   // Not a substitute for the release gate — this test cannot see a tag. It is the tripwire that
   // makes an accidental edit fail here rather than at release time.
-  assert.equal(readHostApiVersion(readFileSync("src/plugin-host/plugin.ts", "utf8")), "0.1.0");
+  assert.equal(readHostApiVersion(readFileSync("src/plugin-host/plugin.ts", "utf8")), "0.4.0");
 });
 
 test("every author-facing apiVersion sample matches the shipped contract", () => {

release-tooling/dockerhub-overview.md.tmpl

@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ services:
 
   # Catches Kratos' recovery/verification emails — UI on http://localhost:8025
   mailpit:
-    image: axllent/mailpit:v1.31.0
+    image: axllent/mailpit:v1.31.1
     ports:
       - "8025:8025"
     restart: unless-stopped
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ into the app. Create `plugins/hello/plugin.ts`:
 import { definePlugin } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";
 
 export default definePlugin({
-  apiVersion: "0.1.0",
+  apiVersion: "0.4.0",
   nav: [{ href: "/hello", id: "hello", label: "Hello", public: true }],
   routes: [
     { method: "GET", path: "/", public: true, handler: () => ({ html: "<h1>Hello from my plugin</h1>" }) },

src/auth/gate.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import type { User } from "../http/context.ts";
+import { allows, gatesSet } from "./gate.ts";
+
+const holder: User = { email: "holder@example.test", id: "01a06091-ba9f-765f-abf4-b5144c314bc7", permissions: ["x:read"] };
+const stranger: User = { email: "stranger@example.test", id: "01a06091-baa3-7b4d-810a-c9ee7e559d98", permissions: [] };
+
+test("allows: ungated and public are open to anyone; session needs a user; permission needs the token", () => {
+  assert.equal(allows({}, null), true);
+  assert.equal(allows({ public: true }, null), true);
+
+  assert.equal(allows({ session: true }, null), false);
+  assert.equal(allows({ session: true }, stranger), true); // signed in is the whole gate — no grant
+
+  assert.equal(allows({ permission: "x:read" }, null), false);
+  assert.equal(allows({ permission: "x:read" }, stranger), false);
+  assert.equal(allows({ permission: "x:read" }, holder), true);
+});
+
+test("gatesSet names the gates a declaration sets, so discovery can refuse more than one", () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(gatesSet({}), []);
+  assert.deepEqual(gatesSet({ session: true }), ["session"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(gatesSet({ permission: "x:read", public: true }), ["public", "permission"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(gatesSet({ permission: "x:read", public: true, session: true }), ["public", "session", "permission"]);
+  // Only `true` sets a gate, so a manifest spelling one `false` names none — which discovery refuses.
+  assert.deepEqual(gatesSet({ public: false, session: false }), []);
+});

src/auth/gate.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+// One home for the gate rule, so the router and the menu can never disagree about what a visitor
+// may reach. README → Public pages & menu items.
+import type { User } from "../http/context.ts";
+
+const GATES = ["public", "session", "permission"] as const;
+
+export interface Gate {
+  permission?: string; // the Keto Permission the caller must hold, `<resource>:<action>`
+  public?: boolean; // anyone, signed in or not
+  session?: boolean; // any signed-in user, no grant to hold; anonymous is sent to /login
+}
+
+export function allows(gate: Gate, user: User | null): boolean {
+  if (gate.public === true) return true;
+  if (gate.session === true) return user !== null;
+  return gate.permission == null || (user?.permissions.includes(gate.permission) ?? false);
+}
+
+export function gatesSet(gate: Gate | null | undefined): string[] {
+  if (gate == null) return [];
+  return GATES.filter((name) => (name === "permission" ? gate.permission != null : gate[name] === true));
+}

src/auth/login.test.ts

@@ -92,12 +92,24 @@ test("completeLogin returns null and touches nothing when there is no active ses
   assert.equal(touched, false);
 });
 
-test("completeLogin maps a missing email trait to null and throws if the tokenizer yields no JWT", async () => {
-  const identity: Identity = { id: ID, traits: {} };
+test("completeLogin throws if the tokenizer yields no JWT", async () => {
+  const identity: Identity = { id: ID, traits: { email: "admin@plainpages.local" } };
   const kratosPublic = publicStub({ whoami: async () => ({ active: true, identity }) as Session }); // never returns a tokenized JWT
   await assert.rejects(completeLogin({ keto: ketoStub(), kratosAdmin: adminStub(), kratosPublic }, "c"), /tokenizer returned no JWT/);
 });
 
+// An identity with no email is no session, decided here so /auth/complete and remintSession cannot
+// disagree: `claimsToUser` reads a token carrying none as anonymous, so minting one would hand the
+// browser a cookie every later request refuses.
+test("completeLogin refuses an identity carrying no email, before it mints anything", async () => {
+  const identity: Identity = { id: ID, traits: {} };
+  let touched = false;
+  const kratosAdmin = adminStub({ updateMetadataPublic: async () => { touched = true; return { id: ID }; } });
+  const kratosPublic = publicStub({ whoami: async () => ({ active: true, identity, tokenized: "h.p.s" }) as Session });
+  assert.equal(await completeLogin({ keto: ketoStub(), kratosAdmin, kratosPublic }, "c"), null);
+  assert.equal(touched, false); // no Keto read, no metadata write, no JWT
+});
+
 test("remintSession: a live Kratos session → fresh cookie + refreshed user; a dead session → a clearing cookie + null", async () => {
   const identity: Identity = { id: ID, traits: { email: "admin@plainpages.local" } };
   const kratosPublic = publicStub({ whoami: async (o) => (o?.tokenizeAs ? { active: true, identity, tokenized: "h.p.s" } : { active: true, identity }) as Session });

src/auth/login.ts

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export interface LoginDeps {
 }
 
 export interface CompletedLogin {
-  email: string | null;
+  email: string;
   userId: string;
   jwt: string;
   permissions: string[];
@@ -61,7 +61,13 @@ export async function completeLogin(deps: LoginDeps, cookie: string | undefined)
   if (!session?.identity) return null;
   const userId = session.identity.id;
   const emailTrait = session.identity.traits?.["email"];
-  const email = typeof emailTrait === "string" ? emailTrait : null;
+  const email = typeof emailTrait === "string" ? emailTrait : "";
+  // No email is no session: `claimsToUser` reads a token carrying none as anonymous, so minting one
+  // would hand the browser a cookie every later request refuses.
+  if (!email) {
+    currentLog()?.warn("session dropped: identity has no email", { sub: userId });
+    return null;
+  }
 
   const permissions = await readPermissions(deps.keto, userId);
   await deps.kratosAdmin.updateMetadataPublic(userId, { permissions });
@@ -87,7 +93,7 @@ export interface Reminted {
 export async function remintSession(deps: LoginDeps, cookie: string | undefined, options: { secure?: boolean } = {}): Promise<Reminted> {
   const completed = await completeLogin(deps, cookie);
   if (!completed) return { setCookie: clearSessionCookie(options), user: null };
-  return { setCookie: sessionCookie(completed.jwt, options), user: { email: completed.email ?? "", id: completed.userId, permissions: completed.permissions } };
+  return { setCookie: sessionCookie(completed.jwt, options), user: { email: completed.email, id: completed.userId, permissions: completed.permissions } };
 }
 
 // Build the Set-Cookie for our session JWT. HttpOnly + SameSite=Lax by default; `secure` is

src/auth/routes.test.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import { test } from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import { AUTH_FLOWS } from "./flow-view.ts";
+import { gatesSet } from "./gate.ts";
 import type { HydraAdmin } from "./hydra-admin.ts";
 import type { KetoClient } from "./keto-client.ts";
 import type { KratosAdmin } from "./kratos-admin.ts";
@@ -39,8 +40,12 @@ test("hydra alone ⇒ only RP-initiated logout of the OAuth2 group (login/consen
 });
 
 test("everything wired ⇒ the full group: OAuth2 challenges, consent GET+POST, /auth/complete", () => {
-  const got = keys(buildAuthRoutes(deps({ hydra, keto, kratos, kratosAdmin })));
+  const routes = buildAuthRoutes(deps({ hydra, keto, kratos, kratosAdmin }));
+  const got = keys(routes);
   for (const key of ["GET /auth/complete", "GET /login", "GET /oauth2/consent", "GET /oauth2/login", "GET /oauth2/logout", "POST /logout", "POST /oauth2/consent"]) {
     assert.ok(got.includes(key), key);
   }
+  // Discovery enforces exactly one gate per plugin declaration; nothing checks the host's own table
+  // at boot, so a route added here without a gate would be silently public.
+  for (const route of routes) assert.deepEqual(gatesSet(route), ["public"], `${route.method} ${route.path}`);
 });

src/auth/routes.ts

@@ -240,20 +240,20 @@ export function buildAuthRoutes({ hydra, keto, kratos, kratosAdmin, menu, secure
   const routes: BuiltinRoute[] = [];
   if (kratos) {
     for (const [path, flowType] of Object.entries(AUTH_FLOWS)) {
-      routes.push({ handler: flowPage(kratos, flowType, secureCookies), method: "GET", path });
+      routes.push({ handler: flowPage(kratos, flowType, secureCookies), method: "GET", path, public: true });
     }
-    routes.push({ handler: logout(kratos, secureCookies), method: "POST", path: "/logout" });
+    routes.push({ handler: logout(kratos, secureCookies), method: "POST", path: "/logout", public: true });
   }
   if (hydra && kratos) {
     const provider = { hydra, kratos };
-    routes.push({ handler: oauthLogin(provider, secureCookies), method: "GET", path: "/oauth2/login" });
-    routes.push({ handler: consentScreen(provider, menu.branding.name), method: "GET", path: "/oauth2/consent" });
-    routes.push({ handler: consentDecision(provider), method: "POST", path: "/oauth2/consent" });
+    routes.push({ handler: oauthLogin(provider, secureCookies), method: "GET", path: "/oauth2/login", public: true });
+    routes.push({ handler: consentScreen(provider, menu.branding.name), method: "GET", path: "/oauth2/consent", public: true });
+    routes.push({ handler: consentDecision(provider), method: "POST", path: "/oauth2/consent", public: true });
   }
-  if (hydra) routes.push({ handler: oauthLogout(hydra), method: "GET", path: "/oauth2/logout" });
+  if (hydra) routes.push({ handler: oauthLogout(hydra), method: "GET", path: "/oauth2/logout", public: true });
   if (kratos && kratosAdmin && keto) {
-    routes.push({ handler: completeAuth({ keto, kratosAdmin, kratosPublic: kratos }, secureCookies), method: "GET", path: "/auth/complete" });
+    routes.push({ handler: completeAuth({ keto, kratosAdmin, kratosPublic: kratos }, secureCookies), method: "GET", path: "/auth/complete", public: true });
   }
-  routes.push({ handler: errorSink, method: "GET", path: "/error" });
+  routes.push({ handler: errorSink, method: "GET", path: "/error", public: true });
   return routes;
 }

src/config.ts

@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ export interface Config {
   pluginDbSecret: string; // derives each plugin's database password (src/plugin-host/storage.ts)
   pluginDbUrl: string | undefined; // credential-free Postgres base URL; unset ⇒ plugin storage is off
   port: number;
+  requireSecureSecrets: boolean; // enforce real secrets — the host's own, and every plugin's declared `secret`
   revocationDenylist: boolean; // enable the optional instant permission/session revoke denylist
   revocationTtlSec: number; // how long a revoke entry lives; keep ≥ tokenizer TTL + clock skew
   secureCookies: boolean;
@@ -188,6 +189,7 @@ export function loadConfig(env: Env = process.env): Config {
     pluginDbSecret: resolvePluginDbSecret(env, requireSecure && Boolean(env["PLUGIN_DB_URL"])),
     pluginDbUrl: readCredentiallessUrl(env, "PLUGIN_DB_URL"),
     port: readPort(env),
+    requireSecureSecrets: requireSecure,
     // Optional instant-revoke, off by default. When on, an admin deactivate/delete or permission
     // change revokes the subject's live tokens at once; the entry lives ttl seconds (≥ the 10m
     // tokenizer TTL + skew, so it outlasts any pre-revoke token).

src/http/app.test.ts

@@ -609,6 +609,7 @@ test("guards map to responses: requireSession → /login, a failed can/check →
       { handler: (ctx) => { if (!can(ctx, "admin")) throw new GuardError(403, "no"); return { html: "ok" }; }, method: "GET", path: "/admin-only" },
       { handler: async (ctx) => { if (!(await check(keto, ctx, { namespace: "Resource", object: ctx.params.id ?? "", relation: "view" }))) throw new GuardError(403, "no"); return { html: "seen" }; }, method: "GET", path: "/doc/:id" },
       { handler: () => ({ html: "gated" }), method: "GET", path: "/gated", permission: "secret:read" }, // declarative route gate
+      { handler: () => ({ html: "mine" }), method: "GET", path: "/mine", session: true }, // declarative session gate
     ],
   };
   const app = createApp({ jwks: staticJwks([ecJwk]), plugins: [guarded] });
@@ -642,6 +643,12 @@ test("guards map to responses: requireSession → /login, a failed can/check →
   assert.equal(gDenied.status, 403);
   assert.match(await gDenied.text(), /403/); // the rendered 403.ejs over HTTP
   assert.equal((await fetch(url + "/guarded/gated", auth(["secret:read"]))).status, 200);
+
+  // declarative `session` gate: anonymous → sign in, and any signed-in user through, grant or none.
+  const sAnon = await fetch(url + "/guarded/mine", { redirect: "manual" });
+  assert.equal(sAnon.status, 303);
+  assert.equal(sAnon.headers.get("location"), "/login?return_to=%2Fguarded%2Fmine");
+  assert.equal((await fetch(url + "/guarded/mine", auth([]))).status, 200);
 });
 
 test("plugin hooks: onRequest can short-circuit a request and onResponse observes the handler result", async (t) => {

src/http/app.ts

@@ -26,8 +26,10 @@ import { createLogger, type Log, requestLogger, runWithLog } from "../logger.ts"
 import { remintSession } from "../auth/login.ts";
 import { DEFAULT_MENU, type MenuConfig } from "../ui/menu-config.ts";
 import { declaredPermissions, type Plugin, type RouteHandler, type RouteResult } from "../plugin-host/plugin.ts";
+import type { PluginSettings } from "../plugin-host/settings.ts";
 import type { SystemCapabilities } from "../plugin-host/system.ts";
-import { allowedMethods, isAuthorized, matchRoute } from "../plugin-host/router.ts";
+import { allows, type Gate } from "../auth/gate.ts";
+import { allowedMethods, matchRoute } from "../plugin-host/router.ts";
 import { buildAuthRoutes } from "../auth/routes.ts";
 import { securityHeaders } from "./security-headers.ts";
 import { localPath } from "./safe-url.ts";
@@ -54,6 +56,7 @@ export interface AppOptions {
   pluginsDir?: string; // where plugin views/static live; defaults to the scanned plugins/
   publicDir?: string;
   secureCookies?: boolean; // set Secure on our session/CSRF cookies (config.secureCookies; off in dev http)
+  settingsCatalog?: readonly PluginSettings[]; // resolved at boot (server.ts, needs the env); → ctx.declaredSettings
   viewsDir?: string;
 }
 
@@ -88,6 +91,7 @@ export function createApp(options: AppOptions = {}): Server {
   const homePlugin = plugins.find((p): p is Plugin & { home: RouteHandler } => typeof p.home === "function");
   const dashboardPlugin = plugins.find((p): p is Plugin & { dashboard: RouteHandler } => typeof p.dashboard === "function");
   const permissionCatalog = declaredPermissions(plugins);
+  const settingsCatalog = options.settingsCatalog ?? [];
   // Skip the hook pipeline entirely unless a plugin declares the hook (keeps the hot path free).
   const anyRequestHooks = plugins.some((p) => p.hooks?.onRequest);
   const anyResponseHooks = plugins.some((p) => p.hooks?.onResponse);
@@ -153,7 +157,6 @@ export function createApp(options: AppOptions = {}): Server {
   // "/dashboard", gated to a signed-in user. A plugin may own it via `dashboard`; else the built-in
   // starter page.
   const serveDashboard = async (ctx: RequestContext, csrf: RequestCsrf, contextFor: PluginContextFactory): Promise<RouteResult | null> => {
-    if (!ctx.user) return { redirect: loginRedirect(ctx), status: 303 };
     // The page carries the Sign-out form, so Set-Cookie a fresh CSRF token here when absent.
     csrf.setCookie();
     if (dashboardPlugin) {
@@ -170,8 +173,8 @@ export function createApp(options: AppOptions = {}): Server {
   // routes.ts, capability-gated on the wired clients) plus the two landing slots above.
   const builtinRoutes: BuiltinRoute[] = [
     ...buildAuthRoutes({ hydra, keto, kratos, kratosAdmin, menu, secureCookies }),
-    { handler: serveHome, method: "GET", path: "/" },
-    { handler: serveDashboard, method: "GET", path: "/dashboard" },
+    { handler: serveHome, method: "GET", path: "/", public: true },
+    { handler: serveDashboard, method: "GET", path: "/dashboard", session: true },
   ];
 
   // The request handler. Run inside runWithLog (below) so the per-request logger is ambient: every
@@ -259,9 +262,9 @@ export function createApp(options: AppOptions = {}): Server {
 
       // Base context (no route params), for the built-in routes. Every plugin-owned render — a
       // landing slot, a hook short-circuit, a plugin route — gets `contextFor(id)` instead.
-      const ctx = buildContext(req, res, { chrome, declaredPermissions: permissionCatalog, user, ...i18nFor(), log: reqLog, verifyCsrf, ...(system ? { system } : {}) });
+      const ctx = buildContext(req, res, { chrome, declaredPermissions: permissionCatalog, declaredSettings: settingsCatalog, user, ...i18nFor(), log: reqLog, verifyCsrf, ...(system ? { system } : {}) });
       const contextFor = (pluginId: string, params?: Record<string, string>): RequestContext =>
-        buildContext(req, res, { chrome, declaredPermissions: permissionCatalog, user, ...i18nFor(pluginId), log: reqLog, ...(params ? { params } : {}), verifyCsrf, ...(system ? { system } : {}) });
+        buildContext(req, res, { chrome, declaredPermissions: permissionCatalog, declaredSettings: settingsCatalog, user, ...i18nFor(pluginId), log: reqLog, ...(params ? { params } : {}), verifyCsrf, ...(system ? { system } : {}) });
       renderPage = viewsFor(ctx);
 
       // Plugin onRequest hooks run before routing and may short-circuit the request.
@@ -275,15 +278,19 @@ export function createApp(options: AppOptions = {}): Server {
         }
       }
 
+      // Anonymous → sign in, remembering the page as return_to; a signed-in user who simply lacks
+      // the permission gets the 403 page.
+      const refuse = async (gate: Gate, gateCtx: RequestContext): Promise<void> => {
+        if (!gateCtx.user) { res.writeHead(303, { location: carryLocale(loginRedirect(gateCtx)) }).end(); return; }
+        reqLog.warn("forbidden: missing permission", { path: pathname, required: gate.permission ?? "", sub: gateCtx.user.id });
+        sendHtml(res, 403, await renderPage("403", {}));
+      };
+
       const match = matchRoute(plugins, method, pathname);
       if (match) {
         const routeCtx = contextFor(match.plugin.id, match.params);
-        if (!isAuthorized(match.route, routeCtx.permissions)) {
-          // Anonymous → sign in, remembering the page as return_to; a signed-in user who simply
-          // lacks the permission gets the 403 page.
-          if (!routeCtx.user) { res.writeHead(303, { location: loginRedirect(routeCtx) }).end(); return; }
-          reqLog.warn("forbidden: missing permission", { path: pathname, required: match.route.permission ?? "", sub: routeCtx.user.id });
-          sendHtml(res, 403, await renderPage("403", {}));
+        if (!allows(match.route, routeCtx.user)) {
+          await refuse(match.route, routeCtx);
           return;
         }
         csrfMint.setCookie();
@@ -297,6 +304,7 @@ export function createApp(options: AppOptions = {}): Server {
 
       const builtin = matchBuiltinRoute(builtinRoutes, method, pathname);
       if (builtin) {
+        if (!allows(builtin, ctx.user)) { await refuse(builtin, ctx); return; }
         await sendResult(res, await builtin.handler(ctx, csrfMint, contextFor), viewsFor(ctx), carryLocale);
         return;
       }

src/http/builtin-routes.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 // mint (host-only — a plugin reads the token via ctx.chrome instead). app.ts matches this table
 // after plugin routes — exact path, a GET route also answering HEAD like the plugin router — and
 // pipes the result through sendResult against the core views.
+import type { Gate } from "../auth/gate.ts";
 import type { RequestContext } from "./context.ts";
 import type { RouteResult } from "../plugin-host/plugin.ts";
 
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ export interface RequestCsrf {
 // own context — otherwise the plugin's keys render as bare keys on the pages it owns.
 export type PluginContextFactory = (pluginId: string) => RequestContext;
 
-export interface BuiltinRoute {
+export interface BuiltinRoute extends Gate {
   // Returns a RouteResult, or null when the handler wrote to ctx.res itself
   // (the landing slots dispatch a plugin's own result against that plugin's views).
   handler: (ctx: RequestContext, csrf: RequestCsrf, contextFor: PluginContextFactory) => Promise<RouteResult | null> | RouteResult | null;

src/http/context.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import type { IncomingMessage, ServerResponse } from "node:http";
 import type { PageChrome } from "../ui/chrome.ts"; // type-only: no runtime import, so no cycle
 import type { PermissionDecl } from "../plugin-host/plugin.ts"; // type-only
+import type { PluginSettings } from "../plugin-host/settings.ts"; // type-only
 import type { SystemCapabilities } from "../plugin-host/system.ts"; // type-only
 import { DEFAULT_LOCALE } from "../i18n/catalog.ts";
 import { ENGLISH } from "../i18n/english.ts";
@@ -42,6 +43,9 @@ export interface RequestContext {
   // screen offers when granting one. Pairs with `permissions` below: this is what *exists*, that is
   // what *this user holds*. Empty when no installed plugin declares any.
   declaredPermissions: readonly PermissionDecl[];
+  // What each installed plugin declares it can be configured with, and how each key resolved — one
+  // entry per plugin, including those declaring nothing. A secret's value is never carried here.
+  declaredSettings: readonly PluginSettings[];
   params: Record<string, string>; // path params from the route match, e.g. /users/:id → { id }
   permissions: string[]; // user?.permissions ?? [] — coarse gate without a null-check
   query: URLSearchParams; // alias of url.searchParams, for ctx.query.get("q")
@@ -67,6 +71,7 @@ export interface BuildContextOptions {
   // The host's factory is memoised, so the menu composes at most once per request across contexts.
   chrome?: () => PageChrome;
   declaredPermissions?: readonly PermissionDecl[];
+  declaredSettings?: readonly PluginSettings[];
   user?: User | null;
   locale?: string;
   localeHref?: (href: string) => string;
@@ -96,6 +101,7 @@ export function buildContext(
   return {
     get chrome(): PageChrome { return (chromeMemo ??= buildChrome ? buildChrome() : ANON_CHROME); },
     declaredPermissions: options.declaredPermissions ?? [],
+    declaredSettings: options.declaredSettings ?? [],
     user,
     locale: options.locale ?? DEFAULT_LOCALE,
     localeHref: options.localeHref ?? ((href) => href),

src/i18n/locales/en-US.ts

@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ const messages = {
   "filter.remove": "Remove {{label}} filter",
   "filter.reset": "Reset",
   "filter.search": "Search",
+  "filter.selected": "{{label}}, {{count}} selected",
   "filter.to": "To",
   "filter.toSeparator": "to",
 

src/i18n/locales/sv-SE.ts

@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ const messages: CoreMessages = {
   "filter.remove": "Ta bort filtret {{label}}",
   "filter.reset": "Återställ",
   "filter.search": "Sök",
+  "filter.selected": "{{label}}, {{count}} valda",
   "filter.to": "Till",
   "filter.toSeparator": "till",
 

src/plugin-host/discovery.test.ts

@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ function scaffold(t: TestContext, files: Record<string, string>): string {
 }
 
 const full = (id: string): string =>
-  `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", nav: [{ id: "${id}:root", label: "${id}" }], ` +
-  `routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", handler: () => ({ html: "${id}" }) }] };`;
+  `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", nav: [{ id: "${id}:root", label: "${id}", public: true }], ` +
+  `routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", public: true, handler: () => ({ html: "${id}" }) }] };`;
 
 test("a missing plugins/ dir means zero plugins, not an error (clean clone)", async () => {
   assert.deepEqual(await discoverPlugins({ dir: join(tmpdir(), "pp-does-not-exist-xyz") }), []);
@@ -62,6 +62,15 @@ const badCases: Array<{ name: string; files: Record<string, string>; match: RegE
   { name: "duplicate nav id across plugins", files: { "a/plugin.ts": full("a").replace("a:root", "dup"), "b/plugin.ts": full("b").replace("b:root", "dup") }, match: /nav id "dup"/ },
   { name: "a route marked public AND permission is contradictory", files: { "contra/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", public: true, permission: "x:read", handler: () => ({ html: "x" }) }] };` }, match: /contra.*public.*permission/s },
   { name: "a nav node marked public AND permission is contradictory", files: { "contranav/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", nav: [{ id: "n", label: "N", public: true, permission: "x:read" }] };` }, match: /contranav.*public.*permission/s },
+  { name: "a route marked session AND permission is contradictory", files: { "contrasess/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", session: true, permission: "x:read", handler: () => ({ html: "x" }) }] };` }, match: /contrasess.*session.*permission/s },
+  { name: "a route marked public AND session is contradictory", files: { "contrapub/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", public: true, session: true, handler: () => ({ html: "x" }) }] };` }, match: /contrapub.*public.*session/s },
+  { name: "a route whose session flag is a truthy non-boolean is refused, not read as ungated", files: { "truthy/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", session: "yes", handler: () => ({ html: "x" }) }] };` }, match: /truthy.*session.*true/s },
+  { name: "a nav node whose public flag is a truthy non-boolean is refused too", files: { "truthynav/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", nav: [{ id: "n", label: "N", public: 1 }] };` }, match: /truthynav.*public.*true/s },
+  { name: "a nav node marked session AND permission is contradictory", files: { "contrasessnav/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", nav: [{ id: "n", label: "N", session: true, permission: "x:read" }] };` }, match: /contrasessnav.*session.*permission/s },
+  // A gate is named, never forgotten: a route or node without one would be an open page nobody chose.
+  { name: "a route naming no gate at all is refused, not served to everyone", files: { "nogate/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", handler: () => ({ html: "x" }) }] };` }, match: /nogate.*names no gate/s },
+  { name: "a nav node naming no gate at all is refused too — a section header says `public` outright", files: { "nogatenav/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", nav: [{ id: "n", label: "N" }] };` }, match: /nogatenav.*names no gate/s },
+  { name: "a gate set to false is refused — it reads as a gate but sets none", files: { "falsegate/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", public: false, handler: () => ({ html: "x" }) }] };` }, match: /falsegate.*public.*true/s },
   // A permission name is <resource>:<action> wherever the manifest mentions one. Enforced here, not
   // only in the admin GUI, so it holds for a plugin installed without that GUI.
   { name: "a route gating on a bare word", files: { "bare/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", permission: "admin", handler: () => ({ html: "x" }) }] };` }, match: /bare.*admin.*<resource>:<action>/s },
@@ -96,12 +105,19 @@ test("a discovery failure tells the operator their plugins/ copy may just be out
   });
 });
 
-test("a route + nav node may be marked public and load fine", async (t) => {
-  const dir = scaffold(t, { "pub/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", nav: [{ href: "/pub", id: "n", label: "N", public: true }], routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", public: true, handler: () => ({ html: "x" }) }] };` });
+test("a route + nav node may be marked public, or session, and load fine", async (t) => {
+  const dir = scaffold(t, {
+    "pub/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", nav: [{ href: "/pub", id: "n", label: "N", public: true }], routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", public: true, handler: () => ({ html: "x" }) }] };`,
+    "sess/plugin.ts": `export default { apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", nav: [{ href: "/sess", id: "s", label: "S", session: true }], routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", session: true, handler: () => ({ html: "x" }) }] };`,
+  });
   const plugins = await discoverPlugins({ dir });
-  assert.equal(plugins.length, 1);
-  assert.equal(plugins[0]?.routes?.[0]?.public, true);
-  assert.equal(plugins[0]?.nav?.[0]?.public, true);
+  assert.equal(plugins.length, 2);
+  const pub = plugins.find((p) => p.id === "pub");
+  const sess = plugins.find((p) => p.id === "sess");
+  assert.equal(pub?.routes?.[0]?.public, true);
+  assert.equal(pub?.nav?.[0]?.public, true);
+  assert.equal(sess?.routes?.[0]?.session, true);
+  assert.equal(sess?.nav?.[0]?.session, true);
 });
 
 test("`admin` is not reserved — the admin screens ship as a drop-in plugin mounted at /admin", async (t) => {
@@ -127,7 +143,7 @@ test("a plugin may carry its own package.json, node_modules and dependencies", a
     "shop/node_modules/price-tag/package.json": `{ "name": "price-tag", "version": "1.0.0", "type": "module", "exports": "./index.js" }`,
     "shop/node_modules/price-tag/index.js": `export default (n) => \`\${n} kr\`;`,
     "shop/plugin.ts": `import { definePlugin } from "@plainpages/plugin-api";\nimport price from "price-tag";\n` +
-      `export default definePlugin({ apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", handler: () => ({ html: price(20) }) }] });`,
+      `export default definePlugin({ apiVersion: "${HOST_API_VERSION}", routes: [{ method: "GET", path: "/", public: true, handler: () => ({ html: price(20) }) }] });`,
   });
 
   const plugins = await discoverPlugins({ dir });

src/plugin-host/discovery.ts

@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
 import { existsSync, readdirSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
+import { type Gate, gatesSet } from "../auth/gate.ts";
 import { checkApiVersion, findConflicts, isValidPermissionName, isValidPluginId, RESERVED_PLUGIN_IDS, type Plugin, type PluginManifest } from "./plugin.ts";
+import { settingsDeclError } from "./settings.ts";
 import { isValidStoragePluginId, MAX_STORAGE_PLUGIN_ID_LENGTH } from "./storage.ts";
 
 const rootDir = join(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), "..", "..");
@@ -141,46 +143,47 @@ function shapeError(manifest: PluginManifest): string | null {
   }
   // A truthy non-boolean (a DSN, say) must not quietly read as "provision me one".
   if (manifest.storage !== undefined && typeof manifest.storage !== "boolean") return `"storage" must be a boolean`;
-  // `public` and `permission` are contradictory on the same route/nav node — "open to all" vs
-  // "needs this permission". Refuse rather than silently pick one, so the author's intent is unambiguous.
-  for (const route of Array.isArray(manifest.routes) ? manifest.routes : []) {
-    if (route?.public === true && route.permission != null) return `route "${route.method} ${route.path}" sets both public and permission — they are mutually exclusive`;
+  if (manifest.settings !== undefined) {
+    const settings = settingsDeclError(manifest.settings);
+    if (settings) return settings;
   }
-  const navContradiction = findPublicNavContradiction(manifest.nav);
-  if (navContradiction) return navContradiction;
-  // Every permission name the manifest mentions — gated on or declared — must be `<resource>:<action>`.
-  // A bare word names a role, and roles are groups here (README → Naming a permission).
   for (const route of Array.isArray(manifest.routes) ? manifest.routes : []) {
-    if (route?.permission != null && !isValidPermissionName(route.permission)) {
-      return `route "${route.method} ${route.path}" gates on "${route.permission}"; a permission name is <resource>:<action>, e.g. "things:read"`;
-    }
+    const gate = gateError(`route "${route?.method} ${route?.path}"`, route);
+    if (gate) return gate;
   }
+  const navGate = findNavGateError(manifest.nav);
+  if (navGate) return navGate;
   for (const decl of Array.isArray(manifest.permissions) ? manifest.permissions : []) {
     if (decl?.name == null || !isValidPermissionName(decl.name)) {
       return `declared permission "${decl?.name}" is not <resource>:<action>, e.g. "things:read"`;
     }
   }
-  const navPermission = findInvalidNavPermission(manifest.nav);
-  if (navPermission) return navPermission;
   return null;
 }
 
-// Recurse the nav fragment: a node that is both `public` and `permission`-gated is contradictory.
-function findPublicNavContradiction(nodes: PluginManifest["nav"]): string | null {
-  for (const node of Array.isArray(nodes) ? nodes : []) {
-    if (node?.public === true && node.permission != null) return `nav node "${node.label ?? node.id ?? "?"}" sets both public and permission — they are mutually exclusive`;
-    const inChild = findPublicNavContradiction(node?.children);
-    if (inChild) return inChild;
+// Every rule a declaration's gate must satisfy. Exactly one gate, always: a missing one would be an
+// open page nobody chose, and anything but `true` (a `false`, a `"yes"`) sets no gate while looking
+// like it does. A permission name is `<resource>:<action>` because a bare word names a role, and
+// roles are groups here (README → Naming a permission).
+function gateError(what: string, gate: Gate | null | undefined): string | null {
+  for (const flag of ["public", "session"] as const) {
+    const value = gate?.[flag];
+    if (value !== undefined && value !== true) return `${what} sets ${flag} to ${JSON.stringify(value)}; a gate is declared with \`true\``;
+  }
+  const gates = gatesSet(gate);
+  if (gates.length === 0) return `${what} names no gate; name exactly one — public, session or permission`;
+  if (gates.length > 1) return `${what} sets ${gates.join(" and ")}; name exactly one — public, session or permission`;
+  if (gate?.permission != null && !isValidPermissionName(gate.permission)) {
+    return `${what} gates on "${gate.permission}"; a permission name is <resource>:<action>, e.g. "things:read"`;
   }
   return null;
 }
 
-function findInvalidNavPermission(nodes: PluginManifest["nav"]): string | null {
+function findNavGateError(nodes: PluginManifest["nav"]): string | null {
   for (const node of Array.isArray(nodes) ? nodes : []) {
-    if (node?.permission != null && !isValidPermissionName(node.permission)) {
-      return `nav node "${node.label ?? node.id ?? "?"}" gates on "${node.permission}"; a permission name is <resource>:<action>, e.g. "things:read"`;
-    }
-    const inChild = findInvalidNavPermission(node?.children);
+    const err = gateError(`nav node "${node?.label ?? node?.id ?? "?"}"`, node);
+    if (err) return err;
+    const inChild = findNavGateError(node?.children);
     if (inChild) return inChild;
   }
   return null;

src/plugin-host/plugin-api.ts

@@ -8,11 +8,14 @@ export { definePlugin, isValidPermissionName } from "./plugin.ts";
 export type { BootContext, HttpMethod, Plugin, PluginHooks, PluginManifest, PermissionDecl, Route, RouteHandler, RouteResult } from "./plugin.ts";
 // A plugin's own database, handed to onBoot when the manifest sets `storage`. Credentials, not a
 // client — the plugin depends on whichever driver it prefers (README → Plugin storage).
+export type { PluginSettings, SettingDecl, SettingSummary, SettingType, SettingValue } from "./settings.ts";
 export type { StorageCredentials } from "./storage.ts";
 export type { RequestContext, User } from "../http/context.ts";
 export type { PageChrome } from "../ui/chrome.ts";
 export type { NavNode } from "../ui/nav.ts";
 export { can, check, GuardError, requireSession } from "../auth/guards.ts";
+// The three coarse gates a route or nav node may declare — `Route` and `NavNode` both extend it.
+export type { Gate } from "../auth/gate.ts";
 // Translation: `ctx.t` and the view-level `t(...)` do the work at runtime — these are for
 // authoring a plugin's own catalogs (plugins/<id>/i18n/<locale>.ts) and for building a translator
 // in a unit test. `PluralMessage` types a message that varies with a count.

src/plugin-host/plugin.ts

@@ -4,12 +4,14 @@
 // A plugin's identity is its folder under plugins/: folder name = `id` (isValidPluginId), mount =
 // `/<id>`. Neither is in the manifest — the host derives them, so they can't drift or be claimed twice.
 
+import type { Gate } from "../auth/gate.ts";
 import type { RequestContext } from "../http/context.ts";
 import type { NavNode } from "../ui/nav.ts";
+import { envName, type SettingDecl, type SettingsOf } from "./settings.ts";
 import type { StorageCredentials } from "./storage.ts";
 
 // The Plainpages release this contract ships in — see README → Contract versioning.
-export const HOST_API_VERSION = "0.1.0";
+export const HOST_API_VERSION = "0.4.0";
 
 export type HttpMethod = "DELETE" | "GET" | "HEAD" | "PATCH" | "POST" | "PUT";
 
@@ -23,14 +25,10 @@ export type RouteResult =
 
 export type RouteHandler = (ctx: RequestContext) => Promise<RouteResult | void> | RouteResult | void;
 
-export interface Route {
+export interface Route extends Gate {
   handler: RouteHandler;
   method: HttpMethod;
   path: string; // relative to the plugin's mount path `/<id>`; ":name" segments → ctx.params.name
-  permission?: string; // coarse gate — the Keto Permission the caller must hold; checked before the handler runs
-  // Same as omitting `permission`, but stated outright so public is a deliberate choice rather than
-  // a forgotten gate. Mutually exclusive with `permission` (discovery refuses both).
-  public?: boolean;
 }
 
 // A Keto Permission this plugin gates on — declared for docs/seeding. Names are a shared global
@@ -62,30 +60,39 @@ export function declaredPermissions(plugins: Plugin[]): PermissionDecl[] {
 }
 
 // What onBoot receives. A hook declaring no parameter stays valid, so this may grow additively.
-export interface BootContext {
+export type BootContext<S extends readonly SettingDecl[] = readonly SettingDecl[]> = {
   storage?: StorageCredentials; // this plugin's own database; present iff the manifest declared `storage`
-}
+} & SettingsSlot<S>;
+
+// Required once the manifest declares settings, so that plugin reads `settings.key` without a guard
+// for the case it just ruled out; optional for a manifest that declared none.
+type SettingsSlot<S extends readonly SettingDecl[]> = readonly [] extends S
+  ? { settings?: SettingsOf<S> }
+  : { settings: SettingsOf<S> };
 
 // Optional hooks on system actions. Crash-isolation is a non-goal — a throwing hook fails loud.
-export interface PluginHooks {
-  onBoot?: (host: BootContext) => Promise<void> | void; // after discovery, before the server listens
+export interface PluginHooks<S extends readonly SettingDecl[] = readonly SettingDecl[]> {
+  onBoot?: (host: BootContext<S>) => Promise<void> | void; // after discovery, before the server listens
   onRequest?: (ctx: RequestContext) => Promise<RouteResult | void> | RouteResult | void; // may short-circuit
   onResponse?: (ctx: RequestContext, result: RouteResult | null) => Promise<void> | void;
 }
 
 // The authored manifest — a plugin's `plugin.ts` default-exports this. No `id`/mount path: the
 // host derives them from the folder name at discovery (see Plugin).
-export interface PluginManifest {
+export interface PluginManifest<S extends readonly SettingDecl[] = readonly SettingDecl[]> {
   apiVersion: string; // semver of the host contract this targets — write a literal, NOT HOST_API_VERSION (see docs)
   // Take over "/dashboard"; the host gates it to a signed-in session first. At most one plugin may
   // declare it (findConflicts → error, never last-write-wins).
   dashboard?: RouteHandler;
   // Take over the ungated public landing "/". At most one plugin may declare it.
   home?: RouteHandler;
-  hooks?: PluginHooks;
+  hooks?: PluginHooks<S>;
   nav?: NavNode[]; // fragment merged into the menu (composeNav); node `icon` is a Lucide sprite id (src/ui/icons.ts), node ids must be globally unique
   permissions?: PermissionDecl[];
   routes?: Route[];
+  // Operator-supplied configuration, one PLUGIN_SETTING_<ID>_<KEY> variable per key; the resolved
+  // values arrive on onBoot's BootContext, typed from these declarations (settings.ts).
+  settings?: S;
   // Ask for a Postgres database of this plugin's own; its credentials arrive on onBoot's BootContext.
   // The host provisions and locks it down but owns no schema inside it, and never drops it.
   storage?: boolean;
@@ -99,7 +106,9 @@ export interface Plugin extends PluginManifest {
 
 // Types the manifest and returns it unchanged; validation happens at discovery, so a plugin may
 // equally be a plain typed object.
-export function definePlugin(manifest: PluginManifest): PluginManifest {
+// The `const` parameter captures the literal `settings`, so onBoot receives each key at its declared
+// type instead of a union every plugin author would have to narrow with a cast.
+export function definePlugin<const S extends readonly SettingDecl[]>(manifest: PluginManifest<S>): PluginManifest<S> {
   return manifest;
 }
 
@@ -168,7 +177,7 @@ export function checkApiVersion(pluginVersion: unknown, hostVersion: string = HO
 }
 
 export interface PluginConflict {
-  kind: "dashboard" | "home" | "id" | "nav-id" | "permission" | "route";
+  kind: "dashboard" | "home" | "id" | "nav-id" | "permission" | "route" | "setting";
   level: "error" | "warn";
   message: string;
   plugins: string[]; // unique ids involved
@@ -209,6 +218,14 @@ export function findConflicts(plugins: Plugin[]): PluginConflict[] {
     if (owners.length > 1) out.push({ kind: "permission", level: "warn", message: `permission "${name}" declared by ${uniq(owners).length} plugins; pick a more specific "<resource>" unless shared on purpose`, plugins: uniq(owners) });
   });
 
+  // Both the id's dashes and the key's camel humps become underscores, so plugin "a-b" key "c" and
+  // plugin "a" key "bC" name one variable — one plugin would silently read the other's value.
+  collect(plugins, (plugin, push) => {
+    for (const decl of plugin.settings ?? []) push(envName(plugin.id, decl.key));
+  }).forEach((owners, name) => {
+    if (owners.length > 1) out.push({ kind: "setting", level: "error", message: `${owners.length} settings resolve to "${name}"; rename a key or a plugin folder`, plugins: uniq(owners) });
+  });
+
   return out;
 }
 

src/plugin-host/router.test.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import { test } from "node:test";
 import type { Plugin, Route } from "./plugin.ts";
-import { allowedMethods, isAuthorized, matchRoute } from "./router.ts";
+import { allowedMethods, matchRoute } from "./router.ts";
 
 const noop: Route["handler"] = () => ({ html: "x" });
 
@@ -54,14 +54,3 @@ test("allowedMethods lists methods at a path (GET implies HEAD); empty when the
   assert.deepEqual(allowedMethods(plugins, "/x/a"), ["GET", "HEAD", "POST"]);
   assert.deepEqual(allowedMethods(plugins, "/x/missing"), []);
 });
-
-test("isAuthorized: open routes pass; gated routes require the permission token; public is explicitly open", () => {
-  const open: Route = { handler: noop, method: "GET", path: "/" };
-  const gated: Route = { handler: noop, method: "GET", path: "/", permission: "x:read" };
-  const pub: Route = { handler: noop, method: "GET", path: "/", public: true }; // blessed public alias
-  assert.equal(isAuthorized(open, []), true);
-  assert.equal(isAuthorized(gated, []), false);
-  assert.equal(isAuthorized(gated, ["x:read"]), true);
-  assert.equal(isAuthorized(gated, ["other"]), false);
-  assert.equal(isAuthorized(pub, []), true); // open to anonymous, like omitting permission — but stated outright
-});

src/plugin-host/router.ts

@@ -73,10 +73,3 @@ export function allowedMethods(plugins: Plugin[], pathname: string): string[] {
   }
   return [...methods].sort();
 }
-
-// Coarse permission gate: a route marked `public` (or one with no `permission`) is open; otherwise
-// the user's permissions (from the session JWT) must include the token. The same rule composeNav uses
-// for the menu. `public` and `permission` are mutually exclusive (discovery refuses both).
-export function isAuthorized(route: Route, permissions: string[]): boolean {
-  return route.public === true || route.permission == null || permissions.includes(route.permission);
-}

src/plugin-host/settings.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+// Guards the plugin-settings rules: the env name a declaration maps to, per-type coercion, the
+// required/default/secret resolution, and what the admin catalog is allowed to carry.
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import type { Plugin } from "./plugin.ts";
+import {
+  ENV_PREFIX,
+  envName,
+  isValidSettingKey,
+  resolveSettings,
+  settingsDeclError,
+  settingsEnvNames,
+  strayNames,
+  type SettingDecl,
+} from "./settings.ts";
+
+function pluginWith(id: string, settings: SettingDecl[]): Plugin {
+  return { apiVersion: "0.2.0", id, settings };
+}
+
+test("a key becomes one SCREAMING_SNAKE segment under the plugin's own", () => {
+  assert.equal(envName("scheduling", "timezone"), "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_TIMEZONE");
+  assert.equal(envName("scheduling", "maxShiftHours"), "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_MAX_SHIFT_HOURS");
+  assert.equal(envName("my-plugin", "apiBase"), "PLUGIN_SETTING_MY_PLUGIN_API_BASE");
+  assert.equal(ENV_PREFIX, "PLUGIN_SETTING_"); // never bare PLUGIN_ — the host owns PLUGIN_DB_*
+});
+
+test("the host's own PLUGIN_DB_* variables are unreachable from a declaration", () => {
+  // A plugin id "db" with key "url" is exactly the collision the longer prefix rules out.
+  assert.notEqual(envName("db", "url"), "PLUGIN_DB_URL");
+  assert.equal(envName("db", "url"), "PLUGIN_SETTING_DB_URL");
+});
+
+test("a key is camelCase, so the env name is derivable and no two keys collide", () => {
+  assert.ok(isValidSettingKey("timezone"));
+  assert.ok(isValidSettingKey("maxShiftHours"));
+  assert.ok(!isValidSettingKey("max_shift_hours")); // would collide with maxShiftHours
+  assert.ok(!isValidSettingKey("MaxShiftHours"));
+  assert.ok(!isValidSettingKey("2fa"));
+  assert.ok(!isValidSettingKey(""));
+});
+
+test("a declaration is refused when it cannot mean what it says", () => {
+  const why = (settings: unknown): string => settingsDeclError(settings) ?? "";
+
+  assert.equal(settingsDeclError([{ key: "a", type: "string" }]), null);
+  assert.match(why("nope"), /must be an array/);
+  assert.match(why([{ key: "max_hours", type: "number" }]), /max_hours.*camelCase/);
+  assert.match(why([{ key: "a", type: "date" }]), /"date".*string, number, boolean, enum, url/);
+  assert.match(why([{ key: "a", type: "string" }, { key: "a", type: "number" }]), /declared twice/);
+  // required means "boot fails without it", so a default would make the flag a lie.
+  assert.match(why([{ default: "x", key: "a", required: true, type: "string" }]), /required.*default.*mutually exclusive/);
+  assert.match(why([{ default: 8, key: "a", type: "string" }]), /default.*string/);
+  assert.match(why([{ key: "a", type: "enum" }]), /enum.*values/);
+  assert.match(why([{ key: "a", type: "enum", values: [] }]), /enum.*values/);
+  assert.match(why([{ default: "c", key: "a", type: "enum", values: ["a", "b"] }]), /default "c".*a, b/);
+  assert.match(why([{ key: "a", type: "string", values: ["a"] }]), /values.*only.*enum/);
+});
+
+test("an unset optional setting resolves to undefined, not to a stand-in", () => {
+  const result = resolveSettings([pluginWith("p", [{ key: "a", type: "string" }])], {});
+  assert.deepEqual(result.errors, []);
+  assert.equal(result.values.get("p")?.["a"], undefined);
+});
+
+test("a default fills in, and an env value overrides it", () => {
+  const plugins = [pluginWith("p", [{ default: 8, key: "maxHours", type: "number" }])];
+  assert.equal(resolveSettings(plugins, {}).values.get("p")?.["maxHours"], 8);
+  assert.equal(resolveSettings(plugins, { PLUGIN_SETTING_P_MAX_HOURS: "12" }).values.get("p")?.["maxHours"], 12);
+});
+
+test("an empty variable reads as unset — compose passes an unset one through as \"\"", () => {
+  const plugins = [pluginWith("p", [{ default: "fallback", key: "a", type: "string" }])];
+  assert.equal(resolveSettings(plugins, { PLUGIN_SETTING_P_A: "" }).values.get("p")?.["a"], "fallback");
+  const required = [pluginWith("p", [{ key: "a", required: true, type: "string" }])];
+  assert.match(resolveSettings(required, { PLUGIN_SETTING_P_A: "" }).errors.join("\n"), /must be set/);
+});
+
+test("a missing required setting is an error naming the plugin, the key and the variable", () => {
+  const result = resolveSettings([pluginWith("scheduling", [{ key: "timezone", required: true, type: "string" }])], {});
+  assert.equal(result.errors.length, 1);
+  assert.match(result.errors[0] ?? "", /scheduling/);
+  assert.match(result.errors[0] ?? "", /timezone/);
+  assert.match(result.errors[0] ?? "", /PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_TIMEZONE/);
+});
+
+test("each type coerces from the environment, and a bad value fails loud", () => {
+  const decls: SettingDecl[] = [
+    { key: "text", type: "string" },
+    { key: "count", type: "number" },
+    { key: "flag", type: "boolean" },
+    { key: "mode", type: "enum", values: ["strict", "lenient"] },
+    { key: "base", type: "url" },
+  ];
+  const ok = resolveSettings([pluginWith("p", decls)], {
+    PLUGIN_SETTING_P_BASE: "https://example.com/v1",
+    PLUGIN_SETTING_P_COUNT: "42",
+    PLUGIN_SETTING_P_FLAG: "true",
+    PLUGIN_SETTING_P_MODE: "strict",
+    PLUGIN_SETTING_P_TEXT: "hello",
+  });
+  assert.deepEqual(ok.errors, []);
+  assert.deepEqual(ok.values.get("p"), { base: "https://example.com/v1", count: 42, flag: true, mode: "strict", text: "hello" });
+
+  const bad = resolveSettings([pluginWith("p", decls)], {
+    PLUGIN_SETTING_P_BASE: "not a url",
+    PLUGIN_SETTING_P_COUNT: "twelve",
+    PLUGIN_SETTING_P_FLAG: "yes",
+    PLUGIN_SETTING_P_MODE: "loose",
+  });
+  assert.equal(bad.errors.length, 4);
+  assert.match(bad.errors.join("\n"), /PLUGIN_SETTING_P_COUNT.*number/);
+  assert.match(bad.errors.join("\n"), /PLUGIN_SETTING_P_FLAG.*"true".*"false"/);
+  assert.match(bad.errors.join("\n"), /PLUGIN_SETTING_P_MODE.*strict, lenient/);
+  assert.match(bad.errors.join("\n"), /PLUGIN_SETTING_P_BASE.*URL/);
+});
+
+test("a boolean is only \"true\"/\"false\" — a typo never degrades to false", () => {
+  const plugins = [pluginWith("p", [{ default: true, key: "flag", type: "boolean" }])];
+  assert.equal(resolveSettings(plugins, { PLUGIN_SETTING_P_FLAG: "false" }).values.get("p")?.["flag"], false);
+  assert.equal(resolveSettings(plugins, { PLUGIN_SETTING_P_FLAG: "0" }).errors.length, 1);
+});
+
+test("REQUIRE_SECURE_SECRETS refuses an unset secret and one still on its dev default", () => {
+  const decls: SettingDecl[] = [{ default: "dev-insecure", key: "apiKey", secret: true, type: "string" }];
+  const plugins = [pluginWith("p", decls)];
+  assert.deepEqual(resolveSettings(plugins, {}).errors, []); // off: the dev default boots a clean clone
+
+  assert.match(resolveSettings(plugins, {}, { requireSecureSecrets: true }).errors.join("\n"), /apiKey.*must be set/);
+  assert.match(
+    resolveSettings(plugins, { PLUGIN_SETTING_P_API_KEY: "dev-insecure" }, { requireSecureSecrets: true }).errors.join("\n"),
+    /apiKey.*dev/,
+  );
+  assert.deepEqual(resolveSettings(plugins, { PLUGIN_SETTING_P_API_KEY: "real" }, { requireSecureSecrets: true }).errors, []);
+});
+
+test("a secret's value reaches the plugin but never the catalog", () => {
+  const plugins = [pluginWith("p", [{ key: "apiKey", secret: true, type: "string" }])];
+  const result = resolveSettings(plugins, { PLUGIN_SETTING_P_API_KEY: "s3cr3t" });
+  assert.equal(result.values.get("p")?.["apiKey"], "s3cr3t");
+
+  const entry = result.catalog[0]?.settings[0];
+  assert.equal(entry?.secret, true);
+  assert.equal(entry?.source, "env");
+  assert.equal(entry?.value, undefined); // not the value, not its length, not a mask of it
+  assert.ok(!JSON.stringify(result.catalog).includes("s3cr3t"));
+});
+
+test("the catalog carries every installed plugin, so \"declares none\" is not \"not installed\"", () => {
+  const plugins = [pluginWith("with", [{ default: "x", key: "a", type: "string" }]), { apiVersion: "0.2.0", id: "without" }];
+  const catalog = resolveSettings(plugins, {}).catalog;
+  assert.deepEqual(catalog.map((entry) => entry.pluginId), ["with", "without"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(catalog[1]?.settings, []);
+});
+
+test("a catalog entry carries the variable to set and where the value came from", () => {
+  const decls: SettingDecl[] = [
+    { description: "Where shifts come from", key: "upstream", required: true, type: "url" },
+    { default: 8, key: "maxHours", type: "number" },
+    { key: "note", type: "string" },
+  ];
+  const catalog = resolveSettings([pluginWith("scheduling", decls)], { PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM: "https://x.test" }).catalog;
+  assert.deepEqual(catalog[0]?.settings, [
+    { description: "Where shifts come from", envName: "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_UPSTREAM", key: "upstream", required: true, secret: false, source: "env", type: "url", value: "https://x.test" },
+    { envName: "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_MAX_HOURS", key: "maxHours", required: false, secret: false, source: "default", type: "number", value: "8" },
+    { envName: "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_NOTE", key: "note", required: false, secret: false, source: "unset", type: "string" },
+  ]);
+});
+
+test("a variable no plugin declares is reported, never acted on", () => {
+  const declared = settingsEnvNames([pluginWith("scheduling", [{ key: "timezone", type: "string" }])]);
+  const strays = strayNames(
+    { PATH: "/usr/bin", PLUGIN_DB_URL: "postgres://x", PLUGIN_SETTING_GONE_KEY: "x", PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_TIMEZOME: "UTC", PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_TIMEZONE: "UTC" },
+    declared,
+  );
+  assert.deepEqual(strays, ["PLUGIN_SETTING_GONE_KEY", "PLUGIN_SETTING_SCHEDULING_TIMEZOME"]); // sorted; the host's own untouched
+});

src/plugin-host/settings.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,259 @@
+// Per-plugin settings: the declaration shape, the env name it maps to, and the resolution rules
+// (README → Plugin settings). Pure — server.ts passes `process.env` in, so the whole matrix is
+// unit-testable without a stack.
+
+import type { Plugin } from "./plugin.ts";
+
+// `PLUGIN_` alone would let a plugin id "db" with key "url" produce the host's own PLUGIN_DB_URL.
+export const ENV_PREFIX = "PLUGIN_SETTING_";
+
+export const SETTING_TYPES = ["string", "number", "boolean", "enum", "url"] as const;
+export type SettingType = (typeof SETTING_TYPES)[number];
+
+export type SettingValue = boolean | number | string;
+
+// What a manifest declares. `required` and `default` are mutually exclusive: a default means the
+// setting can never fail resolution, which is the opposite of what required asserts.
+export interface SettingDecl {
+  default?: SettingValue;
+  description?: string;
+  key: string;
+  required?: boolean;
+  secret?: boolean; // value reaches the plugin, never a log, an error or the catalog
+  type: SettingType;
+  values?: readonly string[]; // enum only — the accepted choices
+}
+
+interface SettingTypeMap {
+  boolean: boolean;
+  enum: string;
+  number: number;
+  string: string;
+  url: string;
+}
+
+type ValueOfDecl<D> = D extends { type: "enum"; values: readonly (infer V extends string)[] }
+  ? V
+  : D extends { type: infer T extends keyof SettingTypeMap }
+    ? SettingTypeMap[T]
+    : never;
+
+// The resolved shape a plugin's onBoot receives, inferred from its own declarations so no caller
+// narrows with a cast. Only a required or defaulted setting is guaranteed present.
+export type SettingsOf<D extends readonly SettingDecl[]> = {
+  [K in D[number] as K["key"]]: K extends { required: true }
+    ? ValueOfDecl<K>
+    : K extends { default: SettingValue }
+      ? ValueOfDecl<K>
+      : ValueOfDecl<K> | undefined;
+};
+
+export type SettingsValues = Record<string, SettingValue | undefined>;
+
+// One row of the admin catalog. `value` is a display string and is absent for a secret and for an
+// unset setting — a secret's length is a disclosure too, so nothing stands in for it.
+export interface SettingSummary {
+  description?: string;
+  envName: string;
+  key: string;
+  required: boolean;
+  secret: boolean;
+  source: "default" | "env" | "unset";
+  type: SettingType;
+  value?: string;
+  values?: readonly string[];
+}
+
+export interface PluginSettings {
+  pluginId: string;
+  settings: SettingSummary[];
+}
+
+export interface ResolveResult {
+  catalog: PluginSettings[];
+  errors: string[];
+  values: Map<string, SettingsValues>;
+}
+
+export interface ResolveOptions {
+  requireSecureSecrets?: boolean;
+}
+
+type Env = Record<string, string | undefined>;
+
+const SETTING_KEY = /^[a-z][a-zA-Z0-9]*$/;
+
+export function isValidSettingKey(key: unknown): boolean {
+  return typeof key === "string" && SETTING_KEY.test(key);
+}
+
+export function envName(pluginId: string, key: string): string {
+  const plugin = pluginId.replaceAll("-", "_").toUpperCase();
+  return `${ENV_PREFIX}${plugin}_${camelToSnake(key)}`;
+}
+
+function camelToSnake(key: string): string {
+  return key.replaceAll(/(?<=[a-z0-9])(?=[A-Z])/g, "_").toUpperCase();
+}
+
+// Discovery-time shape check: the author's mistakes, refused before any value is read.
+export function settingsDeclError(settings: unknown): string | null {
+  if (!Array.isArray(settings)) return `"settings" must be an array`;
+
+  const seen = new Set<string>();
+  for (const decl of settings as SettingDecl[]) {
+    const key = decl?.key;
+    if (!isValidSettingKey(key)) {
+      return `setting "${String(key)}" — a key must be camelCase (${SETTING_KEY.source}) so its variable name is derivable`;
+    }
+    if (seen.has(key)) return `setting "${key}" is declared twice`;
+    seen.add(key);
+
+    if (!(SETTING_TYPES as readonly string[]).includes(decl.type)) {
+      return `setting "${key}" has type "${String(decl.type)}"; one of ${SETTING_TYPES.join(", ")}`;
+    }
+    if (decl.required === true && decl.default !== undefined) {
+      return `setting "${key}" sets both required and default — they are mutually exclusive, a default means it can never fail`;
+    }
+    if (decl.type === "enum") {
+      if (!Array.isArray(decl.values) || decl.values.length === 0 || decl.values.some((v) => typeof v !== "string")) {
+        return `setting "${key}" has type enum, so it must declare a non-empty values array of strings`;
+      }
+    } else if (decl.values !== undefined) {
+      return `setting "${key}" declares values, which only an enum type may do`;
+    }
+
+    const typeError = defaultTypeError(decl);
+    if (typeError) return typeError;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+function defaultTypeError(decl: SettingDecl): string | null {
+  if (decl.default === undefined) return null;
+  if (decl.type === "enum") {
+    const values = decl.values ?? [];
+    return values.includes(String(decl.default))
+      ? null
+      : `setting "${decl.key}" has default "${String(decl.default)}", which is not one of ${values.join(", ")}`;
+  }
+  const expected = decl.type === "number" ? "number" : decl.type === "boolean" ? "boolean" : "string";
+  return typeof decl.default === expected
+    ? null
+    : `setting "${decl.key}": default must be a ${expected} (type ${decl.type}), got ${typeof decl.default}`;
+}
+
+// Every variable the installed plugins answer to — the set a stray is measured against.
+export function settingsEnvNames(plugins: Plugin[]): Set<string> {
+  const names = new Set<string>();
+  for (const plugin of plugins) {
+    for (const decl of plugin.settings ?? []) names.add(envName(plugin.id, decl.key));
+  }
+  return names;
+}
+
+// A PLUGIN_SETTING_ variable no installed plugin declares — usually a typo in the one the operator
+// meant to set, or a plugin they removed. Reported, never acted on (the orphan-database precedent).
+export function strayNames(env: Env, declared: ReadonlySet<string>): string[] {
+  return Object.keys(env)
+    .filter((name) => name.startsWith(ENV_PREFIX) && !declared.has(name))
+    .sort();
+}
+
+export function resolveSettings(plugins: Plugin[], env: Env, options: ResolveOptions = {}): ResolveResult {
+  const catalog: PluginSettings[] = [];
+  const errors: string[] = [];
+  const values = new Map<string, SettingsValues>();
+
+  for (const plugin of plugins) {
+    const decls = plugin.settings ?? [];
+    const resolved: SettingsValues = {};
+    const summaries: SettingSummary[] = [];
+
+    for (const decl of decls) {
+      const name = envName(plugin.id, decl.key);
+      const raw = env[name] || undefined; // compose passes an unset variable through as ""
+      const fail = (message: string): void => void errors.push(`plugin "${plugin.id}": ${message}`);
+
+      let value: SettingValue | undefined;
+      let source: SettingSummary["source"] = "unset";
+      if (raw !== undefined) {
+        const coerced = coerce(decl, raw, name);
+        if (typeof coerced === "string") fail(coerced);
+        else {
+          value = coerced.value;
+          source = "env";
+        }
+      } else if (decl.default !== undefined) {
+        value = decl.default;
+        source = "default";
+      } else if (decl.required === true) {
+        fail(`setting "${decl.key}" must be set — ${name} (type ${decl.type}, no default)`);
+      }
+
+      const secretError = secretPolicyError(decl, raw, options.requireSecureSecrets === true, name);
+      if (secretError) fail(secretError);
+
+      resolved[decl.key] = value;
+      summaries.push(summarize(decl, name, source, value));
+    }
+
+    if (decls.length > 0) values.set(plugin.id, resolved);
+    catalog.push({ pluginId: plugin.id, settings: summaries });
+  }
+
+  return { catalog, errors, values };
+}
+
+// The host's own rule for a secret (readSecret), reaching plugins: enforced, neither unset nor the
+// declared dev throwaway is accepted.
+function secretPolicyError(decl: SettingDecl, raw: string | undefined, enforce: boolean, name: string): string | null {
+  if (!enforce || decl.secret !== true) return null;
+  if (raw === undefined) return `setting "${decl.key}" must be set when REQUIRE_SECURE_SECRETS=true — ${name}`;
+  if (decl.default !== undefined && raw === String(decl.default)) {
+    return `setting "${decl.key}" must not be its dev default when REQUIRE_SECURE_SECRETS=true — ${name}`;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+function summarize(decl: SettingDecl, name: string, source: SettingSummary["source"], value: SettingValue | undefined): SettingSummary {
+  const showValue = decl.secret !== true && value !== undefined;
+  return {
+    ...(decl.description !== undefined ? { description: decl.description } : {}),
+    envName: name,
+    key: decl.key,
+    required: decl.required === true,
+    secret: decl.secret === true,
+    source,
+    type: decl.type,
+    ...(showValue ? { value: String(value) } : {}),
+    ...(decl.values !== undefined ? { values: decl.values } : {}),
+  };
+}
+
+// A coerced value, or the boot error naming the variable and what it accepts.
+function coerce(decl: SettingDecl, raw: string, name: string): { value: SettingValue } | string {
+  switch (decl.type) {
+    case "boolean":
+      if (raw === "true") return { value: true };
+      if (raw === "false") return { value: false };
+      return `${name} must be "true" or "false", got "${raw}"`;
+    case "enum":
+      return (decl.values ?? []).includes(raw)
+        ? { value: raw }
+        : `${name} must be one of ${(decl.values ?? []).join(", ")}, got "${raw}"`;
+    case "number": {
+      const value = Number(raw);
+      return Number.isFinite(value) ? { value } : `${name} must be a number, got "${raw}"`;
+    }
+    case "url":
+      try {
+        new URL(raw);
+      } catch {
+        return `${name} is not a valid URL: ${raw}`;
+      }
+      return { value: raw };
+    case "string":
+      return { value: raw };
+  }
+}

src/server.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { createKratosAdmin } from "./auth/kratos-admin.ts";
 import { createKratosPublic } from "./auth/kratos-public.ts";
 import { createLogger, tracedFetch } from "./logger.ts";
 import { loadMenuConfig } from "./ui/menu-config.ts";
+import { resolveSettings, settingsEnvNames, strayNames } from "./plugin-host/settings.ts";
 import { buildCredentials, storagePluginIds, type StorageCredentials } from "./plugin-host/storage.ts";
 
 const config = loadConfig(); // validates the env (incl. enforced secrets) — fails loud at boot
@@ -62,15 +63,29 @@ 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(", ") });
+// Operator-supplied plugin settings, resolved against the environment the manifests declared. A bad
+// or missing value is refused here rather than at that plugin's first use, hours later.
+const settings = resolveSettings(plugins, process.env, { requireSecureSecrets: config.requireSecureSecrets });
+if (settings.errors.length > 0) throw new Error(`Plugin settings:\n${settings.errors.map((e) => `  - ${e}`).join("\n")}`);
+// A stray is usually a typo in the very variable the operator meant to set — naming it turns two
+// unrelated-looking errors into one. Reported, never acted on.
+const strays = strayNames(process.env, settingsEnvNames(plugins));
+if (strays.length > 0) log.warn("settings variables no installed plugin declares", { variables: strays.join(", ") });
+
+// onBoot is the only way storage credentials and settings are handed over, so without one they are
+// resolved and undeliverable. A warning, not a refusal — the plugin still works, it just gets neither.
+for (const [what, ids] of [
+  ["settings", plugins.filter((plugin) => plugin.settings?.length && !plugin.hooks?.onBoot)],
+  ["storage", plugins.filter((plugin) => plugin.storage && !plugin.hooks?.onBoot)],
+] as const) {
+  if (ids.length > 0) log.warn(`plugins declare ${what} but have no onBoot to receive it`, { plugins: ids.map((plugin) => plugin.id).join(", ") });
+}
 
 // plugin onBoot — after discovery, before listen; a throw aborts boot.
 await runBootHooks(plugins, (plugin) => {
   const storage = storageCredentials.get(plugin.id);
-  return storage ? { storage } : {};
+  const values = settings.values.get(plugin.id);
+  return { ...(values ? { settings: values } : {}), ...(storage ? { storage } : {}) };
 });
 
 const server = createApp({
@@ -91,6 +106,7 @@ const server = createApp({
   menu,
   plugins,
   secureCookies: config.secureCookies,
+  settingsCatalog: settings.catalog,
 }).listen(config.port, () => {
   log.info("listening", { apiVersion: HOST_API_VERSION, port: config.port, url: config.appUrl ?? `http://localhost:${config.port}` });
 });

src/ui/chrome.ts

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import { composeNav, type NavNode } from "./nav.ts";
 import type { Plugin } from "../plugin-host/plugin.ts";
 import { branding, shellUser, type ShellUser } from "./shell-context.ts";
 
-const DASHBOARD_NAV: NavNode = { href: "/dashboard", icon: "i-grid", id: "dashboard", label: "nav.dashboard" };
+const DASHBOARD_NAV: NavNode = { href: "/dashboard", icon: "i-grid", id: "dashboard", label: "nav.dashboard", session: true };
 
 export interface PageChrome {
   brand: { logo?: string; name: string; sub?: string };
@@ -35,8 +35,7 @@ export interface ChromeOptions {
 export function buildPluginChrome(opts: ChromeOptions): PageChrome {
   const t = opts.t ?? ENGLISH;
   const carryLocale = opts.localeHref ?? ((href: string) => href);
-  // Dashboard is gated, so an anonymous click would only dead-end at /login.
-  const fragments: NavNode[][] = opts.user ? [[DASHBOARD_NAV]] : [];
+  const fragments: NavNode[][] = [[DASHBOARD_NAV]];
   // A plugin's nav labels are keys in *its* catalog, so translate each fragment with that plugin's
   // translator before merging. composeNav then runs the core one over the result; already-translated
   // text passes through it.
@@ -44,8 +43,7 @@ export function buildPluginChrome(opts: ChromeOptions): PageChrome {
     if (p.nav?.length) fragments.push(translateNav(p.nav, opts.translatorFor?.(p.id) ?? t));
   }
 
-  const permissions = opts.user?.permissions ?? [];
-  const nav = composeNav(fragments, opts.menu.override, permissions, t);
+  const nav = composeNav(fragments, opts.menu.override, opts.user ?? null, t);
   if (opts.currentPath) {
     // Mark by the *best* (longest) href that is the path or a parent of it, so a sub-path like
     // /admin/users/new marks the Users base leaf (/admin/users) and the dashboard marks Dashboard.

src/ui/filter-bar.test.ts

@@ -37,6 +37,15 @@ const config = {
         options: [{ value: "engineering", label: "Engineering" }, { value: "design", label: "Design" }, { value: "oncall", label: "On-call" }],
       },
       { type: "daterange", legend: "Joined", from: { name: "joined_from", value: "2026-01-01", label: "Joined from" }, to: { name: "joined_to", value: "2026-06-14", label: "Joined to" } },
+      {
+        type: "multiselect",
+        name: "owner",
+        legend: "Owner",
+        note: "30 of 45",
+        value: ["ann"],
+        options: [{ value: "ann", label: "Ann Berg" }, { value: "bo", label: "Bo Falk" }],
+      },
+      { type: "multiselect", name: "room", legend: "Room", options: [{ value: "lab", label: "Lab" }] },
     ],
   ],
   pills: [{ label: "Team", value: "Engineering", remove: "?tag=oncall" }],
@@ -64,6 +73,14 @@ test("filter-bar renders a GET form with every control type, reflecting current
   assert.match(html, /<input type="checkbox" name="tag" value="oncall" checked>On-call/);
   assert.match(html, /<input type="checkbox" name="tag" value="design">Design/);
 
+  // multiselect — a disclosure: the trigger names the filter and counts what is chosen, the options
+  // are checkboxes in a fieldset the popover holds, so a long list costs one line of the bar.
+  assert.match(html, /<div class="menu"><button class="btn btn-menu" type="button" popovertarget="f-owner-menu" aria-label="Owner, 1 selected">Owner<span class="badge">1<\/span><\/button><div id="f-owner-menu" class="menu-pop left" popover>/);
+  assert.match(html, /popover><div class="menu-head">30 of 45<\/div><fieldset class="menu-field"><legend class="menu-head">Owner<\/legend><label class="menu-check"><input type="checkbox" name="owner" value="ann" checked>Ann Berg<\/label><label class="menu-check"><input type="checkbox" name="owner" value="bo">Bo Falk<\/label><\/fieldset>/);
+
+  // Nothing chosen — no badge and no count in the accessible name.
+  assert.match(html, /<button class="btn btn-menu" type="button" popovertarget="f-room-menu">Room<\/button>/);
+
   // daterange — calendar icon + two date inputs with values.
   assert.match(html, /<div class="daterange"><svg class="ico ico-sm" aria-hidden="true"><use href="#i-cal"\s*\/?><\/svg>.*?<input type="date" id="f-joined_from" name="joined_from" value="2026-01-01">.*?<span class="to" aria-hidden="true">to<\/span>.*?<input type="date" id="f-joined_to" name="joined_to" value="2026-06-14">/);
 

src/ui/menu.test.ts

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ const flat = (s: string): string => s.replace(/>\s+</g, "><").replace(/\s+/g, "
 test("menu renders trigger, positioning, the item matrix and check groups", async () => {
   const html = flat(await render({
     id: "cols-menu",
-    trigger: { icon: "i-cols", text: "Columns", label: "Column settings" },
+    trigger: { count: 3, icon: "i-cols", text: "Columns", label: "Column settings" },
     align: "left", up: true, width: 240,
     items: [
       { head: "Actions" },
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ test("menu renders trigger, positioning, the item matrix and check groups", asyn
 
   // Trigger: icon + text + aria-label, wired to the panel by id; popover carries align/up + width.
   // The panel is the trigger's next sibling inside the wrapper — the CSS open state reads that.
-  assert.match(html, /<div class="menu"><button class="btn" type="button" popovertarget="cols-menu" aria-label="Column settings"><svg class="ico ico-sm"><use href="#i-cols"\s*\/?><\/svg>Columns<\/button><div id="cols-menu" class="menu-pop left up" popover style="min-width:240px">/);
+  assert.match(html, /<div class="menu"><button class="btn" type="button" popovertarget="cols-menu" aria-label="Column settings"><svg class="ico ico-sm"><use href="#i-cols"\s*\/?><\/svg>Columns<span class="badge">3<\/span><\/button><div id="cols-menu" class="menu-pop left up" popover style="min-width:240px">/);
 
   // Item matrix: head, button-with-icon, link, separator, danger button.
   assert.match(html, /<div class="menu-head">Actions<\/div>/);

src/ui/nav.test.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import { test } from "node:test";
+import type { User } from "../http/context.ts";
 import { composeNav, type NavNode } from "./nav.ts";
 
+function viewer(...permissions: string[]): User {
+  return { email: "viewer@example.test", id: "01a06091-ba9f-765f-abf4-b5144c314bc7", permissions };
+}
+
 // Two plugin fragments; ids let the override target nodes, `permission` gates per permission.
 const fragments: NavNode[][] = [
   [{
@@ -15,7 +20,7 @@ const fragments: NavNode[][] = [
 ];
 
 test("composeNav merges fragments, filters by permission, and emits clean render nodes", () => {
-  const tree = composeNav(fragments, {}, ["scheduling:read"]);
+  const tree = composeNav(fragments, {}, viewer("scheduling:read"));
 
   // Reports gone (no reports:read), Manage gone (no scheduling:admin), header kept with Shifts.
   // Output carries no `id`/`permission` and omits absent fields — ready for nav-tree.ejs.
@@ -30,7 +35,7 @@ test("composeNav drops gated subtrees, empty headers, and (with no permissions)
     { id: "admin", label: "Admin", permission: "users:read", children: [{ href: "/u", id: "u", label: "Users" }] },
     { id: "free", label: "Free", children: [{ href: "/d", id: "d", label: "Docs" }] },
   ]];
-  assert.deepEqual(composeNav(gatedHeader, {}, []), [
+  assert.deepEqual(composeNav(gatedHeader, {}, viewer()), [
     { label: "Free", children: [{ href: "/d", label: "Docs" }] },
   ]);
 
@@ -39,26 +44,31 @@ test("composeNav drops gated subtrees, empty headers, and (with no permissions)
     { id: "sec", label: "Section", children: [{ href: "/x", id: "x", label: "X", permission: "x:read" }] },
     { href: "/hub", id: "hub", label: "Hub", children: [{ href: "/y", id: "y", label: "Y", permission: "y:read" }] },
   ]];
-  assert.deepEqual(composeNav(emptyHeader, {}, []), [{ href: "/hub", label: "Hub" }]);
+  assert.deepEqual(composeNav(emptyHeader, {}, viewer()), [{ href: "/hub", label: "Hub" }]);
 
   // No fragments / no permissions → empty tree, never throws.
   assert.deepEqual(composeNav(), []);
 });
 
-test("composeNav keeps a node marked public for everyone — the blessed public alias", () => {
-  // A header with one public child + one gated child: with no permissions, the public child keeps the
-  // header alive (the gated child is filtered out) — so a plugin can show a public menu option to all.
+test("composeNav shows a public node to everyone and a session node to any signed-in user", () => {
+  // A header with a public child, a session child and a gated child: the public child keeps the
+  // header alive for an anonymous visitor — so a plugin can show a menu option to all.
   const frag: NavNode[][] = [[{
     icon: "i-cal", id: "sched", label: "Scheduling",
     children: [
       { href: "/scheduling", id: "overview", label: "Overview", public: true },
+      { href: "/scheduling/mine", id: "mine", label: "Mine", session: true },
       { href: "/scheduling/shifts", id: "shifts", label: "Shifts", permission: "scheduling:read" },
     ],
   }]];
-  // `public` is filter-only (like id/permission) — never rendered into the output node.
-  assert.deepEqual(composeNav(frag, {}, []), [
+  // `public`/`session` are filter-only (like id/permission) — never rendered into the output node.
+  assert.deepEqual(composeNav(frag, {}, null), [
     { icon: "i-cal", label: "Scheduling", children: [{ href: "/scheduling", label: "Overview" }] },
   ]);
+  // Signed in with no permission at all: the session node appears, the permission-gated one does not.
+  assert.deepEqual(composeNav(frag, {}, viewer()), [
+    { icon: "i-cal", label: "Scheduling", children: [{ href: "/scheduling", label: "Overview" }, { href: "/scheduling/mine", label: "Mine" }] },
+  ]);
 });
 
 test("composeNav applies the override: rename, group, order, hide (then filters)", () => {
@@ -74,7 +84,7 @@ test("composeNav applies the override: rename, group, order, hide (then filters)
     groups: [{ icon: "i-box", id: "grp", label: "Group", open: true, children: ["b", "c"] }], // wrap b+c
     order: ["grp", "a"],                                     // grp before the lone a
     hide: ["c"],                                             // remove c from inside the group
-  }, ["secrets:read"]);
+  }, viewer("secrets:read"));
 
   // grp emitted (b only, c hidden), reordered before a; Secret kept now that permission "secrets:read" is present.
   assert.deepEqual(tree, [

src/ui/nav.ts

@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 // composeNav: merge each plugin's nav fragment into one tree, apply the central override, then
-// permission-filter per user. Pure and I/O-free — menu gating reads the JWT `permissions` claim,
-// never Keto. A node is visible iff it is `public`, declares no `permission`, or the user holds that
-// name; a gated header hides its whole subtree, and a pure header left with no children is dropped.
+// filter per user. Pure and I/O-free — menu gating reads the JWT `permissions` claim, never Keto.
+// A node is visible iff `allows` passes its gate; a gated header hides its whole subtree, and a pure
+// header left with no children is dropped.
 
+import { allows, type Gate } from "../auth/gate.ts";
+import type { User } from "../http/context.ts";
 import { ENGLISH } from "../i18n/english.ts";
 import type { Translate } from "../i18n/translate.ts";
 
-export interface NavNode {
+export interface NavNode extends Gate {
   id?: string; // stable key for override targeting; stripped from the rendered tree
   children?: NavNode[];
   count?: number;
@@ -15,12 +17,10 @@ export interface NavNode {
   icon?: string;
   label: string;
   open?: boolean;
-  permission?: string; // required permission token; consumed by the filter, never rendered
-  public?: boolean; // show to everyone, signed in or not — the blessed alias for "no permission", stated outright; consumed by the filter, never rendered. Mutually exclusive with permission (discovery refuses both).
 }
 
 // Central override (config/menu.ts). Targets nodes by `id`; applied rename → group →
-// order → hide, then the per-user permission filter runs last.
+// order → hide, then the per-user gate filter runs last.
 export interface NavOverride {
   groups?: NavGroupSpec[]; // wrap top-level nodes (by id) under a new header
   hide?: string[]; // remove nodes by id, at any depth (incl. a group's id)
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ export interface NavGroupSpec {
 export function composeNav(
   fragments: NavNode[][] = [],
   override: NavOverride = {},
-  permissions: string[] = [],
+  user: User | null = null,
   t: Translate = ENGLISH,
 ): NavNode[] {
   let nodes: NavNode[] = fragments.flat();
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ export function composeNav(
   if (override.groups?.length) nodes = applyGroups(nodes, override.groups);
   if (override.order?.length) nodes = applyOrder(nodes, override.order);
   if (override.hide?.length) nodes = hideTree(nodes, new Set(override.hide));
-  return filterByRoles(nodes, new Set(permissions)).map((node) => toRenderNode(node, t));
+  return filterByGate(nodes, user).map((node) => toRenderNode(node, t));
 }
 
 function renameTree(nodes: NavNode[], rename: Record<string, string>): NavNode[] {
@@ -104,19 +104,19 @@ function hideTree(nodes: NavNode[], hide: Set<string>): NavNode[] {
   return out;
 }
 
-function filterByRoles(nodes: NavNode[], permissions: Set<string>): NavNode[] {
+function filterByGate(nodes: NavNode[], user: User | null): NavNode[] {
   const out: NavNode[] = [];
   for (const n of nodes) {
-    if (n.public !== true && n.permission != null && !permissions.has(n.permission)) continue; // gated → drop node + subtree (public always shows)
+    if (!allows(n, user)) continue; // gated → drop node + subtree
     if (!n.children) { out.push(n); continue; }
-    const children = filterByRoles(n.children, permissions);
+    const children = filterByGate(n.children, user);
     if (children.length === 0 && n.href == null) continue; // empty pure header → drop
     out.push({ ...n, children });
   }
   return out;
 }
 
-// Strip the helper-only fields (id/permission) and drop absent ones, so the tree is exactly
+// Strip the helper-only fields (id and the gate) and drop absent ones, so the tree is exactly
 // what nav-tree.ejs reads. Labels (a manifest's, or the central override's rename) pass through
 // `t` on the way out: a label that names a catalog key is translated, any other renders as written.
 function toRenderNode(n: NavNode, t: Translate): NavNode {

todo.md

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 ## Unfinnished work
 
-- [ ] Add a way to configure plugins directly when installing. **Decided: the manifest declares it, not an `.env`** — a declared schema is validatable at boot, so a missing or mistyped setting fails loud and named the way a stray `package.json` now does, and the picker/docs can be generated from the declaration. Open: where the operator *supplies* the values (env var per key, a `config/` file, or both), and whether a secret may be declared at all.
 - [ ] Rename the plugin "admin" to something less generic, like "auth-admin" or "users-groups-admin".
 - [ ] Guard the group paths against self-lockout, or accept them explicitly. The self-revoke guard covers only your own *direct* grants on the Users screen; unticking a permission on a group you belong to, removing yourself from that group, or deleting it can all still strip your own effective access with no warning. Recorded in AGENTS.md as a known gap — the robust fix is a "last effective holder" check, which needs a reverse Keto query.
 - [ ] The permission picker has no concurrency baseline, so two operators editing the same user/group silently discard each other's change. Sketch: post the rendered set as a hidden baseline; if it no longer matches Keto, re-render with "this changed while you had the page open" rather than applying.
@@ -21,6 +20,7 @@
 - [ ] Decide what `ICON_NAMES` (`src/ui/icons.ts`) actually is. `i-chart`, `i-copy`, `i-download` and `i-sliders` have no caller anywhere — so either they go, or the comment should say the palette is curated and may carry an id ahead of its first use. Not cosmetic: the sprite is inlined into every page, and the rule decides whether a future removal is routine cleanup or a plugin-facing regression.
 - [ ] Decide (once) whether the CSRF token staying unbound to `sub`/session is accepted. `src/auth/csrf.ts` signs `<nonce>.<HMAC(secret, nonce)>` with no session binding, so any validly-signed token passes for any user — an attacker who can write cookies on the origin can fix a token they know. Standard for unbound signed double-submit and plausibly fine behind `SameSite=Lax` + HSTS. Accepted ⇒ record it in AGENTS.md and README → Security model; not accepted ⇒ bind the nonce to `sub`.
 - [ ] Verify the documented Docker commands on macOS and fix whatever misbehaves — **macOS is a supported dev host**, but nothing here has been run on one. Two suspects, both from the `--user "$(id -u):$(id -g)"` idiom: a macOS `id -g` is `20`, which is `dialout` inside the noble image rather than a user group, and Docker Desktop remaps bind-mount ownership in its own VM layer. The same question covers rootless Docker, where README already says to *drop* the flag.
+- [ ] Map Kratos' 401 on a self-service flow init, so an anonymous `GET /settings` with no `?flow` renders instead of 500ing. `flowPage` (`src/auth/routes.ts`) maps 403/404/410 → restart the flow, 400 `session_already_available` → `/auth/complete`, and ≥500 → the themed 503, then rethrows everything else — and Kratos answers the settings-flow init with 401 when there is no session. `/settings` is correctly `public` (the recovery flow lands there with a live Kratos session but no app JWT), so the gate is not the fix: a 401 should redirect to `/login` with the page as `return_to`. No E2E covers an anonymous hit on a flow page that needs a session.
 
 ### Architectural review findings (2026-07-02)
 
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ Prioritized. Overall verdict: architecture is sound; these are refinements.
 
 ## Finnished work
 
+- [x] Configure a plugin at install time: the manifest declares `settings`, the operator sets one `PLUGIN_SETTING_<ID>_<KEY>` variable per key, and the resolved values arrive on `onBoot` typed from the declaration. Read-only admin screen at `/admin/plugin-settings`.
 - [x] Give a plugin persistent storage: `storage: true` provisions a Postgres database + login role named `plugin_<id>`, credentials arrive on `onBoot`, passwords are derived from `PLUGIN_DB_SECRET` rather than stored.
 - [x] Refuse a stray `package.json`/`node_modules` in `config/` by name, as plugin folders already are.
 - [x] Let Renovate reach the example plugins' manifests (`ignorePaths` overrides `config:recommended`).

views/index.ejs

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
         <p>${t("dashboard.starter.intro")}</p>
         <p>${t("dashboard.starter.replace")}</p>
 <pre class="code-block"><code>export default definePlugin({
-  apiVersion: "0.1.0",
+  apiVersion: "0.4.0",
   // view names plugins/&lt;id&gt;/views/&lt;view&gt;.ejs, rendered in this same shell
   dashboard: (ctx) =&gt; ({ view: "dashboard", data: { /* … */ } }),
 });</code></pre>

views/partials/filter-bar.ejs

@@ -2,12 +2,15 @@
   Filter bar: a real GET form so filtering is server-side and zero-JS. Config:
     rows: Control[][]            rows of controls, laid out left→right
     pills, clearHref, label, action, applyLabel
-  Control.type ∈ search | segmented | select | chips | daterange | spacer.
-    search    { name, placeholder?, value?, label? }
-    segmented { name, legend?, value?, options:{value,label,count?}[] }      (radios)
-    select    { name, label, value?, options:{value,label}[] }
-    chips     { name, legend?, value?:string[], options:{value,label}[] }    (checkboxes)
-    daterange { legend?, from:{name,value?,label?}, to:{name,value?,label?} }
+  Control.type ∈ search | segmented | select | chips | multiselect | daterange | spacer.
+    search      { name, placeholder?, value?, label? }
+    segmented   { name, legend?, value?, options:{value,label,count?}[] }      (radios)
+    select      { name, label, value?, options:{value,label}[] }
+    chips       { name, legend?, value?:string[], options:{value,label}[] }    (checkboxes)
+    multiselect { name, legend?, note?, value?:string[], options:{value,label}[] }  (checkboxes in a popover)
+    daterange   { legend?, from:{name,value?,label?}, to:{name,value?,label?} }
+  chips and multiselect are the same checkboxes on the same parameter: on the bar, or behind a
+  button once the list is too long to lay there.
   The form is a GET, which replaces the whole query string — so the visitor's chosen language rides
   along as a hidden input, and every href here (pills, clear) is run through localeHref.
 %><%
@@ -34,6 +37,16 @@
     <span class="filter"><label class="sr-only" for="f-<%= c.name %>"><%= c.label %></label><span class="select"><select id="f-<%= c.name %>" name="<%= c.name %>"><% c.options.forEach((o) => { %><option value="<%= o.value %>"<% if (eq(c.value, o.value)) { %> selected<% } %>><%= o.label %></option><% }) %></select></span></span>
 <% } else if (c.type === "chips") { -%>
     <fieldset class="filter-field"><legend class="sr-only"><%= c.legend || c.name %></legend><span class="filter-legend" aria-hidden="true"><%= c.legend || c.name %></span><div class="chips"><% (c.options).forEach((o) => { const on = (c.value || []).map(String).includes(String(o.value)); %><label class="chip"><span class="chip-dot" aria-hidden="true"></span><input type="checkbox" name="<%= c.name %>" value="<%= o.value %>"<% if (on) { %> checked<% } %>><%= o.label %></label><% }) %></div></fieldset>
+<% } else if (c.type === "multiselect") { const legend = c.legend || c.name; const on = (c.value || []).map(String); -%>
+    <%- include("menu", {
+      id: "f-" + c.name + "-menu",
+      align: "left", kebab: false, up: false, width: null, // explicit: EJS would otherwise inherit the page's own
+      trigger: { class: "btn btn-menu", count: on.length || null, label: on.length ? t("filter.selected", { count: on.length, label: legend }) : null, text: legend },
+      items: [
+        ...(c.note ? [{ head: c.note }] : []),
+        { group: { legend, name: c.name, options: c.options.map((o) => ({ checked: on.includes(String(o.value)), label: o.label, value: o.value })) } },
+      ],
+    }) %>
 <% } else if (c.type === "daterange") { -%>
     <fieldset class="filter-field"><legend class="sr-only"><%= c.legend || t("filter.dateRange") %></legend><span class="filter-legend" aria-hidden="true"><%= c.legend || t("filter.dateRange") %></span><div class="daterange"><svg class="ico ico-sm" aria-hidden="true"><use href="#i-cal"/></svg><label class="sr-only" for="f-<%= c.from.name %>"><%= c.from.label || t("filter.from") %></label><input type="date" id="f-<%= c.from.name %>" name="<%= c.from.name %>"<% if (c.from.value) { %> value="<%= c.from.value %>"<% } %>><span class="to" aria-hidden="true"><%= t("filter.toSeparator") %></span><label class="sr-only" for="f-<%= c.to.name %>"><%= c.to.label || t("filter.to") %></label><input type="date" id="f-<%= c.to.name %>" name="<%= c.to.name %>"<% if (c.to.value) { %> value="<%= c.to.value %>"<% } %>></div></fieldset>
 <% } else if (c.type === "spacer") { -%>

views/partials/menu.ejs

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
   Config:
     id      string          REQUIRED — the panel's id and the trigger's popovertarget. Name it for what
                             the menu is (`locale-menu`); it must be unique on the page.
-    trigger { class?(="btn", "" ⇒ none) · label?(aria-label) · icon? · text? · html?(raw inner, wins) }
+    trigger { class?(="btn", "" ⇒ none) · label?(aria-label) · icon? · text? · count?(badge) · html?(raw inner, wins) }
     align?  "left"          left-align the popover (default right)
     up?     boolean         open upward (footer menus)
     kebab?  boolean         bare kebab trigger (adds .kebab)
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
   const popCls = "menu-pop" + (locals.align === "left" ? " left" : "") + (locals.up ? " up" : "");
   const width = locals.width;
 -%>
-<div class="menu"><button<% if (btnCls) { %> class="<%= btnCls %>"<% } %> type="button" popovertarget="<%= locals.id %>"<% if (trigger.label) { %> aria-label="<%= trigger.label %>"<% } %>><% if (trigger.html != null) { %><%- trigger.html %><% } else { if (trigger.icon) { %><svg class="ico ico-sm"><use href="#<%= trigger.icon %>"/></svg><% } if (trigger.text) { %><%= trigger.text %><% } } %></button><div id="<%= locals.id %>" class="<%= popCls %>" popover<% if (width != null) { %> style="min-width:<%= typeof width === "number" ? width + "px" : width %>"<% } %>>
+<div class="menu"><button<% if (btnCls) { %> class="<%= btnCls %>"<% } %> type="button" popovertarget="<%= locals.id %>"<% if (trigger.label) { %> aria-label="<%= trigger.label %>"<% } %>><% if (trigger.html != null) { %><%- trigger.html %><% } else { if (trigger.icon) { %><svg class="ico ico-sm"><use href="#<%= trigger.icon %>"/></svg><% } if (trigger.text) { %><%= trigger.text %><% } if (trigger.count != null) { %><span class="badge"><%= trigger.count %></span><% } } %></button><div id="<%= locals.id %>" class="<%= popCls %>" popover<% if (width != null) { %> style="min-width:<%= typeof width === "number" ? width + "px" : width %>"<% } %>>
 <% items.forEach((it) => { -%>
 <% if (it.head != null) { -%>
   <div class="menu-head"><%= it.head %></div>