diff --git a/docs/approvals.md b/docs/approvals.md
index e5305769..527f402b 100644
--- a/docs/approvals.md
+++ b/docs/approvals.md
@@ -478,16 +478,12 @@ each phase is a no-op once already applied. Behaviour:
   dirs, or claude creds.
 - Meta-flake phase: rewrites each `applied/<n>/flake.nix` to
   the module-only boilerplate, wires the `applied` remote in
-  each proposed repo, and bootstraps the meta repo from the
-  current agent list. Set `HIVE_SKIP_META_MIGRATION=1` on the
-  service to defer.
-
-  A further step used to `nixos-container update` every
-  container onto `meta#<n>`, guarded by a marker file so it
-  ran once per hive. It is gone: containers have been rendered
-  onto `meta#<n>` at creation for long enough that no live hive
-  needs the repoint, and a one-shot nobody can still trigger is
-  dead weight. Same for the `root` → `h-root` container rename.
+  each proposed repo, bootstraps the meta repo from the
+  current agent list, and `nixos-container update`s every
+  container at `meta#<n>`. The expensive last step is
+  guarded by `/var/lib/hyperhive/.meta-migration-done` so
+  it only runs once across hive-c0re restarts. Set
+  `HIVE_SKIP_META_MIGRATION=1` on the service to defer.
 
 No state loss in either migration. claude creds, /state/
 notes, the events DB, proposed history, and applied history
diff --git a/docs/persistence.md b/docs/persistence.md
index 871a45f8..7c4ff619 100644
--- a/docs/persistence.md
+++ b/docs/persistence.md
@@ -324,11 +324,11 @@ Contents:
 
 The root agent has the meta dir RO-mounted at `/meta/`.
 
-There is no longer a `.meta-migration-done` marker: the
-one-shot container repoint it guarded has been removed, since
-containers are rendered onto `meta#<n>` at creation. A stale
-marker file left over from an older hive is inert and can be
-deleted.
+Marker file `/var/lib/hyperhive/.meta-migration-done` is
+written by the startup migration after every container has
+been repointed at `meta#<n>`. Removing it forces a re-run on
+next hive-c0re start (idempotent — only the actual repoint
+step would re-fire).
 
 ## Destroy vs purge
 
diff --git a/docs/web-ui/dashboard.md b/docs/web-ui/dashboard.md
index a8cfaff2..7556155b 100644
--- a/docs/web-ui/dashboard.md
+++ b/docs/web-ui/dashboard.md
@@ -852,29 +852,12 @@ fetch entirely.
   icon, so it's obvious at a glance which container is actually
   moving.
   **Pending-state derivation:** the pill is sourced from two
-  separate stores in priority order. (1) The **transient**
-  (`transientsState`) — covers the create-and-start window where the
+  separate stores in priority order. (1) The operator-initiated
+  **transient** (`transientsState`) is set on the dashboard the
+  moment the operator clicks start / stop / restart / rebuild /
+  destroy / spawn — covers the create-and-start window where the
   container literally isn't up yet, before any backend state event
-  has fired.
-
-  A transient is **derived from the job-queue node currently
-  running** against that agent, not declared per request, so its
-  label follows the operation as it progresses (a rebuild reads
-  `stop_for_update`, then `swap`, then `reconcile` rather than one
-  constant `rebuilding` for its whole life). Two consequences for
-  anything rendering it:
-
-  - The label vocabulary is **open** — it is the node's own wire tag
-    (`NodeKind::as_str`, the same strings `NodeView.kind` carries),
-    not a fixed set. Treat it as an opaque display string; do not
-    switch on specific values. `restarting` in particular no longer
-    exists, because no node kind is unique to a restart.
-  - It is **not** exclusively operator-initiated. Work the operator
-    never clicked (a meta-update cascade, a crash-recover rebuild)
-    lights the same pill, since it is the running node that sets it.
-
-  Ops with no queue node behind them (destroy, migration) supply
-  their own label directly. (2) If no transient is set, the **rebuild-queue
+  has fired. (2) If no transient is set, the **rebuild-queue
   entry** for this agent is consulted (`rebuildQueueState`); this
   covers worker-driven ops — meta-update cascades, crash-recover
   rebuilds, approval-driven rebuilds — that the operator didn't
@@ -1368,9 +1351,7 @@ payload):
 - `transient_set` (name, transient_kind, since_unix) /
   `transient_cleared` (name) — lifecycle action spinners. The
   client ticks the elapsed-seconds badge off `since_unix`
-  client-side, no polling. `transient_kind` is an **open**
-  display string (the running node's own tag), not a fixed
-  enum — render it, don't branch on it.
+  client-side, no polling.
 - `container_state_changed` (container: ContainerView) /
   `container_removed` (name) — per-row container mutations,
   emitted by `Coordinator::rescan_containers_and_emit` from
diff --git a/frontend/packages/agent/src/agent.css b/frontend/packages/agent/src/agent.css
index 79f32625..2b9d7007 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/agent/src/agent.css
+++ b/frontend/packages/agent/src/agent.css
@@ -530,12 +530,6 @@ pre.diff {
 .agent-inbox .inbox-ts   { color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.9em; margin-left: 0.5em; }
 .agent-inbox .inbox-from { color: var(--amber); }
 .agent-inbox .inbox-sep  { color: var(--muted); margin-left: 0.4em; }
-/* Todos flyout per-row checkbox (bulk mark-done) — sits inline before the
-   existing `.inbox-from` label, same row. */
-.agent-inbox .todo-cb {
-  vertical-align: middle;
-  margin-right: 0.2em;
-}
 .agent-inbox .inbox-body {
   display: block;
   color: var(--fg);
@@ -661,11 +655,10 @@ pre.diff {
   text-decoration-color: var(--muted);
 }
 
-/* Bulk-action header row: "mark all read" above the recent-messages
-   list in the inbox flyout, and "select all / select none / mark
-   done" above the list in the todos flyout — same classes, shared
-   look (mauve hover, bg-elev background) so both read as part of
-   the same affordance family as the answer-form button. */
+/* "mark all read" header row sits above the recent-messages list
+   in the inbox side-panel flyout. Same look as the answer-form
+   button (mauve hover, bg-elev background) so they read as part
+   of the same affordance family. */
 .agent-inbox .inbox-mark-all-row {
   display: flex;
   gap: 0.6em;
diff --git a/frontend/packages/agent/src/app.js b/frontend/packages/agent/src/app.js
index b53ecaeb..729e4b06 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/agent/src/app.js
+++ b/frontend/packages/agent/src/app.js
@@ -861,67 +861,8 @@ window.marked = marked;
     return wrap;
   }
 
-  /** Bulk "mark done" row for the todos flyout: select all / select none
-   *  + a mark-done button, disabled until at least one row is checked.
-   *  POSTs the checked ids (comma-joined into one field, same shape as
-   *  `hive-c0re`'s meta-inputs bulk form — axum's `Form` extractor doesn't
-   *  natively decode repeated same-name keys) to this agent's own
-   *  `/api/todos/mark-done`, then calls `refreshTodos()` on success so the
-   *  flyout reloads without the now-dismissed rows. `wrap` is the panel
-   *  root — bulk buttons read/toggle the checkboxes it contains. */
-  function buildTodosMarkDoneRow(wrap) {
-    const status = el('span', { class: 'inbox-mark-status' });
-    const selAll = el('button', { type: 'button', class: 'inbox-mark-all-btn' }, 'select all');
-    const selNone = el('button', { type: 'button', class: 'inbox-mark-all-btn' }, 'select none');
-    const markBtn = el('button', {
-      type: 'button', class: 'inbox-mark-all-btn', disabled: '',
-    }, '✓ mark done');
-    const checkboxes = () => Array.from(wrap.querySelectorAll('input[data-todo-id]'));
-    const refreshDisabled = () => {
-      const any = checkboxes().some((cb) => cb.checked);
-      if (any) markBtn.removeAttribute('disabled');
-      else markBtn.setAttribute('disabled', '');
-    };
-    selAll.addEventListener('click', () => {
-      checkboxes().forEach((cb) => { cb.checked = true; });
-      refreshDisabled();
-    });
-    selNone.addEventListener('click', () => {
-      checkboxes().forEach((cb) => { cb.checked = false; });
-      refreshDisabled();
-    });
-    wrap.addEventListener('change', (e) => {
-      if (e.target.matches('input[data-todo-id]')) refreshDisabled();
-    });
-    markBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
-      const ids = checkboxes().filter((cb) => cb.checked).map((cb) => cb.dataset.todoId);
-      if (!ids.length) return;
-      status.textContent = 'marking…';
-      asyncBtn(markBtn, async () => {
-        try {
-          const resp = await fetch('api/todos/mark-done', {
-            method: 'POST',
-            headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded' },
-            body: 'ids=' + encodeURIComponent(ids.join(',')),
-          });
-          if (resp.ok) {
-            status.textContent = '✓ marked done';
-            refreshTodos();
-          } else {
-            status.textContent = 'failed: ' + (await resp.text());
-          }
-        } catch (err) {
-          status.textContent = 'failed: ' + err;
-        }
-      });
-    });
-    return el('div', { class: 'inbox-mark-all-row' }, selAll, selNone, markBtn, status);
-  }
-
   /** Build the todos side-panel list. Each entry is a LooseEnd::Todo
-   *  (id, subsystem, summary, source, age_seconds). A checkbox per row
-   *  plus the bulk row above lets the operator dismiss several at once
-   *  instead of one `cancel_loose_end` call at a time. */
+   *  (subsystem, summary, source, age_seconds). */
   function buildTodosList(todos) {
     const wrap = el('div', { class: 'agent-inbox' });
     if (!todos.length) {
@@ -929,7 +870,6 @@ window.marked = marked;
         'no todos — all subsystem queues are clear.'));
       return wrap;
     }
-    wrap.append(buildTodosMarkDoneRow(wrap));
     const list = el('ul');
     const fmtAge = (s) => {
       if (s < 60) return s + 's';
@@ -940,13 +880,8 @@ window.marked = marked;
     for (const t of todos) {
       const li = el('li');
       const label = t.source ? t.subsystem + ' · ' + t.source : t.subsystem;
-      const cbId = 'todo-cb-' + t.id;
-      const cb = el('input', {
-        type: 'checkbox', id: cbId, class: 'todo-cb', 'data-todo-id': String(t.id),
-      });
       li.append(
-        cb, ' ',
-        el('label', { for: cbId, class: 'inbox-from' }, label), ' ',
+        el('span', { class: 'inbox-from' }, label), ' ',
         el('span', { class: 'inbox-ts' }, fmtAge(t.age_seconds || 0) + ' ago'),
         el('div', { class: 'inbox-body' }, t.summary || ''),
       );
diff --git a/hive-agent/src/web_ui/actions.rs b/hive-agent/src/web_ui/actions.rs
index 52cb4e75..de060f92 100644
--- a/hive-agent/src/web_ui/actions.rs
+++ b/hive-agent/src/web_ui/actions.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-//! Operator action POST handlers (send, cancel, compact, model, effort,
-//! reset, todos mark-done).
+//! Operator action POST handlers (send, cancel, compact, model, effort, reset).
 
 use axum::{
     Form,
@@ -163,41 +162,3 @@ pub(super) async fn post_set_effort(
     tracing::info!(%level, "operator set effort");
     (axum::http::StatusCode::OK, "ok").into_response()
 }
-
-#[derive(Deserialize)]
-pub(super) struct MarkTodosDoneForm {
-    /// Comma-separated todo ids. Same "one field, JS joins the checked
-    /// boxes" shape as `hive-c0re`'s `meta_inputs::MetaUpdateForm` — axum's
-    /// `Form` extractor doesn't natively decode repeated same-name keys.
-    ids: String,
-}
-
-/// `POST /api/todos/mark-done` — dismiss one or more of this agent's own
-/// todos (loose-ends v2) from the todos flyout. Loops a `MarkTodoDone` call
-/// per id over the in-agent socket rather than adding a new bulk request to
-/// `hive-agent-sock`: the todos list is small (single-digit rows most of the
-/// time), so N same-host socket round-trips isn't a real cost, and it keeps
-/// the wire protocol's `Request` enum — already used by the `cancel_loose_end`
-/// MCP tool — unchanged. Unknown/already-acked ids just don't add to the
-/// `acked` count (same "acking twice is not a new action" semantics as the
-/// single-id path); a request with no ids or where every id fails to parse
-/// is rejected as a client error rather than silently acking nothing.
-pub(super) async fn post_mark_todos_done(Form(form): Form<MarkTodosDoneForm>) -> Response {
-    let ids: Vec<i64> = form
-        .ids
-        .split(',')
-        .filter_map(|s| s.trim().parse::<i64>().ok())
-        .collect();
-    if ids.is_empty() {
-        return error_response(StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "mark-done: no todo ids selected");
-    }
-    let mut acked = 0u64;
-    for id in ids {
-        if let Some(hive_agent_sock::Response::Acked { count }) =
-            crate::todo_server::dial(&hive_agent_sock::Request::MarkTodoDone { id }).await
-        {
-            acked += count;
-        }
-    }
-    axum::Json(serde_json::json!({ "acked": acked })).into_response()
-}
diff --git a/hive-agent/src/web_ui/mod.rs b/hive-agent/src/web_ui/mod.rs
index 4693c361..5b06e15d 100644
--- a/hive-agent/src/web_ui/mod.rs
+++ b/hive-agent/src/web_ui/mod.rs
@@ -116,7 +116,6 @@ pub async fn serve(
         .route("/api/new-session", post(actions::post_new_session))
         .route("/api/logout", post(auth::post_logout))
         .route("/api/todos", get(stats::api_todos))
-        .route("/api/todos/mark-done", post(actions::post_mark_todos_done))
         .route("/api/stats", get(stats::api_stats))
         .route("/screen/ws", get(screen::screen_ws))
         .route("/icon", get(screen::serve_icon));
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/actions.rs b/hive-c0re/src/actions.rs
index d3eb90c4..4dadeace 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/actions.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/actions.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 use anyhow::{Context as _, Result, bail};
 use hive_sh4re::{ApprovalKind, ApprovalStatus, HelperEvent};
 
-use crate::coordinator::Coordinator;
+use crate::coordinator::{Coordinator, TransientKind};
 use crate::lifecycle;
 
 /// Approve a pending request. Marks the approval row durably, then
@@ -882,10 +882,7 @@ pub async fn destroy(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>, name: &str, purge: bool) -> Resul
     tracing::info!(%name, purge, "destroy");
     // Guard auto-clears on the success path's final scope exit and on
     // every early-return / cancellation along the way.
-    // Destroy has no queue node behind it, so nothing in the graph says this
-    // container is going away on purpose — without this the crash watcher
-    // reports every destroy as a crash and the manager tries to recover it.
-    let guard = coord.suppress_crash_watch(name);
+    let guard = coord.transient_guard(name, TransientKind::Destroying);
     lifecycle::destroy(name).await?;
     coord.unregister_agent(name);
     let runtime = crate::paths::agent_runtime_dir(name);
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs b/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs
index 4b9e1366..7029cbf3 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU64, Ordering};
 use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
 
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
-use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
 use tokio::sync::{broadcast, watch};
 
 use crate::approvals::Approvals;
@@ -119,10 +118,7 @@ pub struct Coordinator {
     /// Agents whose lifecycle action (currently just spawn) is in flight.
     /// Read by the dashboard to render a spinner; cleared when the action
     /// resolves (success or failure).
-    /// Agents whose container is being taken down by work with **no queue node
-    /// behind it** (destroy, migration), so the crash watcher must not report
-    /// the disappearance as a crash. Not a pill — see [`CrashWatchSuppression`].
-    crash_suppressed: Mutex<HashSet<String>>,
+    transient: Mutex<HashMap<String, TransientState>>,
     /// Tombstone for transients that have JUST been cleared. The
     /// crash watcher polls every 10s and would race the
     /// drop-clears-immediately path of `TransientGuard`: an operator
@@ -137,7 +133,7 @@ pub struct Coordinator {
     /// agents whose tombstone is still inside the grace window. Crash
     /// watcher consults both this and the active map before declaring
     /// a stop deliberate.
-    recent_transient: Mutex<HashMap<String, (bool, std::time::Instant)>>,
+    recent_transient: Mutex<HashMap<String, (TransientKind, std::time::Instant)>>,
     /// Timestamps of recent unexpected container crashes, keyed by agent.
     /// Fed by `crash_watch` each time it classifies a stop as a crash (so
     /// a crash-looping container — which `Restart=on-failure` flips back
@@ -361,75 +357,27 @@ pub struct AgentPaths {
 
 /// Per-agent in-progress state that the dashboard surfaces between approve
 /// click and container ready.
-///
-/// The two fields answer genuinely different questions and are set
-/// independently on purpose. There used to be a single `TransientKind` enum
-/// serving both, which meant a display concern and a safety decision shared one
-/// vocabulary and moved together.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct TransientState {
-    /// What the dashboard pill renders. For queue-driven work this is the
-    /// running node's own wire tag ([`crate::job_queue::NodeKind::as_str`]) —
-    /// the same vocabulary the DAG view ships, so a pill and a node name an
-    /// operation identically. Work with no node behind it (destroy, migration)
-    /// supplies its own.
-    ///
-    /// Display only. Nothing branches on it — match on a string and this
-    /// becomes a taxonomy again, silently.
-    pub label: String,
-    /// Whether the container going down is **expected**, i.e. this operation
-    /// takes it down on purpose. Read by the crash watcher to tell a
-    /// deliberate stop from a crash, so a wrong value here either raises a
-    /// false alarm or swallows a real one.
-    ///
-    /// Set by whoever creates the transient, which is the only place that
-    /// actually knows — it is not recoverable from `label`.
-    pub deliberate_stop: bool,
-    /// When the operation started. Wall-clock rather than `Instant` because a
-    /// derived entry takes it from the node's own `started_at` — the true start
-    /// of the work, not the moment a watcher first noticed it.
-    pub since: DateTime<Utc>,
+    pub kind: TransientKind,
+    pub since: std::time::Instant,
 }
 
-/// RAII handle returned by [`Coordinator::suppress_crash_watch`]. While held,
-/// the crash watcher treats this container disappearing as **expected**.
-///
-/// This is *not* a dashboard pill. Transients are derived from running queue
-/// nodes and nothing stores them. But destroy and migration take a container
-/// down without a node behind them, so nothing in the graph says the
-/// disappearance was intended — and without that, `crash_watch` fires a
-/// `ContainerCrash` for every destroy and every migrated agent, and the manager
-/// tries to "recover" containers that were removed on purpose.
-///
-/// It is held rather than stamped once because
-/// [`crate::workers::crash_watch`]'s grace window is finite and these
-/// operations are not: a long destroy would outlive a single tombstone. The
-/// tombstone is stamped on drop, covering the poll that lands just after.
-///
-/// Goes away entirely once destroy + migration are real queue nodes.
-#[must_use = "suppression lasts as long as the guard; bind it for the operation's duration \
-              (`let _guard = coord.suppress_crash_watch(...)`). An unbound call drops it \
-              immediately and the very next poll can report a deliberate stop as a crash."]
-pub struct CrashWatchSuppression {
+/// RAII handle returned by `Coordinator::transient_guard`. Cleared on
+/// drop — including drop-via-cancellation, the path that bare
+/// `set_transient` / `clear_transient` pairs leaked through. Holds an
+/// `Arc<Coordinator>` so the guard is freely returnable / movable.
+#[must_use = "the guard clears the transient when dropped; bind it for the operation's \
+              duration (`let _guard = coord.transient_guard(...)`). An unbound call drops \
+              it immediately and un-sets the transient at once — the exact footgun this guards against."]
+pub struct TransientGuard {
     coord: Arc<Coordinator>,
     name: String,
 }
 
-impl Drop for CrashWatchSuppression {
+impl Drop for TransientGuard {
     fn drop(&mut self) {
-        self.coord
-            .crash_suppressed
-            .lock()
-            .unwrap()
-            .remove(&self.name);
-        // Tombstone the release so the next poll — which may land in the
-        // window between the container going away and this guard dropping —
-        // still reads the stop as deliberate.
-        self.coord
-            .recent_transient
-            .lock()
-            .unwrap()
-            .insert(self.name.clone(), (true, std::time::Instant::now()));
+        self.coord.clear_transient(&self.name);
     }
 }
 
@@ -460,6 +408,38 @@ impl Drop for MetaUpdateGuard {
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, serde::Serialize)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "snake_case")]
+pub enum TransientKind {
+    /// `lifecycle::spawn` is running (nixos-container create + update + start).
+    Spawning,
+    /// `lifecycle::start` is running.
+    Starting,
+    /// `lifecycle::kill` is running.
+    Stopping,
+    /// A restart (`lifecycle::kill` then `lifecycle::start`) is running.
+    Restarting,
+    /// `lifecycle::rebuild` is running (nixos-container update).
+    Rebuilding,
+    /// `actions::destroy` is running.
+    Destroying,
+}
+
+impl TransientKind {
+    /// Wire/UI label. Matches the strings the dashboard already
+    /// renders in the transient spinner.
+    pub fn as_str(self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            TransientKind::Spawning => "spawning",
+            TransientKind::Starting => "starting",
+            TransientKind::Stopping => "stopping",
+            TransientKind::Restarting => "restarting",
+            TransientKind::Rebuilding => "rebuilding",
+            TransientKind::Destroying => "destroying",
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Field-named payload for [`Coordinator::emit_approval_resolved`].
 /// Mirrors the `ApprovalResolved` dashboard-event fields. `agent`
 /// borrows from the caller; `approval_kind` / `status` are
@@ -568,7 +548,7 @@ impl Coordinator {
             agent_io_weight,
             model_prices,
             agents: Mutex::new(HashMap::new()),
-            crash_suppressed: Mutex::new(HashSet::new()),
+            transient: Mutex::new(HashMap::new()),
             recent_transient: Mutex::new(HashMap::new()),
             recent_crashes: Mutex::new(HashMap::new()),
             graceful_stop_pending: Mutex::new(HashSet::new()),
@@ -1106,9 +1086,22 @@ impl Coordinator {
         self.agents.lock().unwrap().keys().cloned().collect()
     }
 
-    /// Emit the "a pill appeared" edge, for the job-queue scheduler publishing
-    /// the transitions of its derived set.
-    pub(crate) fn emit_transient_set(&self, name: &str, label: String) {
+    /// Mark an agent as in-progress (only one state per agent for now).
+    ///
+    /// Private on purpose: the RAII [`TransientGuard`] (via
+    /// [`Coordinator::transient_guard`]) is the only door, so the paired
+    /// `clear_transient` always runs on drop even if the surrounding future
+    /// is cancelled (HTTP request aborted, runtime shutdown mid-rebuild,
+    /// panic). A bare set with no guaranteed clear would leak the transient
+    /// and leave the dashboard stuck in "rebuilding…" forever.
+    fn set_transient(&self, name: &str, kind: TransientKind) {
+        self.transient.lock().unwrap().insert(
+            name.to_owned(),
+            TransientState {
+                kind,
+                since: std::time::Instant::now(),
+            },
+        );
         // Live-update dashboards. `since_unix` is wall-clock so the
         // browser can tick "Ns spawning…" without polling. The
         // intra-process map keeps using `Instant` for monotonicity.
@@ -1120,31 +1113,32 @@ impl Coordinator {
         self.emit_dashboard_event(DashboardEvent::TransientSet {
             seq: self.next_seq(),
             name: name.to_owned(),
-            transient_kind: label,
+            transient_kind: kind.as_str(),
             since_unix,
         });
     }
 
-    /// Emit the "a pill went away" edge **and stamp the tombstone the crash
-    /// watcher reads**, for the job-queue scheduler.
-    ///
-    /// 🚨 The stamp is not bookkeeping. Without it the clear-then-poll race
-    /// produced a spurious `ContainerCrash` on **every** operator stop/restart:
-    /// the transient is gone by the time the 10s poll looks, so a deliberate
-    /// stop is indistinguishable from a crash. `recent_transient_within` is what
-    /// closes that window, which is why the clear has to be an *event* — a
-    /// derived read of current state cannot answer "was one here a moment ago?".
-    ///
-    /// Old entries are reaped lazily on read, so the map stays bounded.
-    pub(crate) fn emit_transient_cleared(&self, name: &str, deliberate_stop: bool) {
-        self.recent_transient.lock().unwrap().insert(
-            name.to_owned(),
-            (deliberate_stop, std::time::Instant::now()),
-        );
-        self.emit_dashboard_event(DashboardEvent::TransientCleared {
-            seq: self.next_seq(),
-            name: name.to_owned(),
-        });
+    /// Clear an agent's transient state. Private: only reachable through
+    /// [`TransientGuard`]'s `Drop`, which guarantees it runs (see
+    /// [`Coordinator::set_transient`]).
+    fn clear_transient(&self, name: &str) {
+        let removed = self.transient.lock().unwrap().remove(name);
+        if let Some(state) = removed {
+            // Stamp the tombstone so the crash watcher can still see
+            // "operator kicked this off recently" on its next 10s poll
+            // — without this, the clear-then-poll race produced a
+            // spurious ContainerCrash on every operator stop/restart.
+            // Old entries get reaped lazily on read so the map doesn't
+            // grow unbounded.
+            self.recent_transient
+                .lock()
+                .unwrap()
+                .insert(name.to_owned(), (state.kind, std::time::Instant::now()));
+            self.emit_dashboard_event(DashboardEvent::TransientCleared {
+                seq: self.next_seq(),
+                name: name.to_owned(),
+            });
+        }
     }
 
     /// Mark `name` as having a graceful stop in progress. While set,
@@ -1211,19 +1205,20 @@ impl Coordinator {
         result
     }
 
-    /// Per-agent `deliberate_stop` for transients cleared within the last
-    /// `grace` seconds — i.e. agents the operator just acted on, whose stop the
-    /// crash watcher should NOT classify as a crash. Lazily reaps entries older
-    /// than `grace` so the map stays bounded by the active agent count.
-    ///
-    /// Carries only the safety bit, not the display label: nothing downstream
-    /// should be able to re-derive a stop/crash decision from a pill's wording.
-    pub fn recent_transient_within(&self, grace: std::time::Duration) -> HashMap<String, bool> {
+    /// Set of agents whose transient was cleared within the last
+    /// `grace` seconds — i.e. agents the operator just acted on,
+    /// whose stop the crash watcher should NOT classify as a crash.
+    /// Lazily reaps entries older than `grace` so the map stays
+    /// bounded by the active agent count.
+    pub fn recent_transient_within(
+        &self,
+        grace: std::time::Duration,
+    ) -> HashMap<String, TransientKind> {
         let now = std::time::Instant::now();
         let mut map = self.recent_transient.lock().unwrap();
         map.retain(|_, (_, ts)| now.duration_since(*ts) <= grace);
         map.iter()
-            .map(|(k, (deliberate, _))| (k.clone(), *deliberate))
+            .map(|(k, (kind, _))| (k.clone(), *kind))
             .collect()
     }
 
@@ -1254,62 +1249,21 @@ impl Coordinator {
         map.iter().map(|(k, v)| (k.clone(), v.len())).collect()
     }
 
-    /// Tell the crash watcher that `name`'s container is going down **on
-    /// purpose**, for the lifetime of the returned guard. See
-    /// [`CrashWatchSuppression`] for why this exists at all.
-    ///
-    /// Only for the operations with no queue node behind them. Anything the
-    /// job queue runs answers this from the node itself
-    /// ([`crate::job_queue::NodeKind::takes_container_down`]) and must not come
-    /// through here.
-    ///
-    /// The guard's `Drop` runs even on task cancellation, so an aborted HTTP
-    /// request or a panic mid-destroy can't leave a container permanently
-    /// exempt from crash reporting.
-    pub fn suppress_crash_watch(self: &Arc<Self>, name: &str) -> CrashWatchSuppression {
-        self.crash_suppressed
-            .lock()
-            .unwrap()
-            .insert(name.to_owned());
-        CrashWatchSuppression {
+    /// Set a transient state and return a guard that clears it on drop.
+    /// Use this from any path where the surrounding future could be
+    /// cancelled or panic between set and clear (HTTP handlers, spawned
+    /// tasks). The guard's `Drop` runs even on task cancellation, so
+    /// the dashboard's spinner can't get pinned forever.
+    pub fn transient_guard(self: &Arc<Self>, name: &str, kind: TransientKind) -> TransientGuard {
+        self.set_transient(name, kind);
+        TransientGuard {
             coord: self.clone(),
             name: name.to_owned(),
         }
     }
 
-    /// Whether a no-node operation is currently taking this container down.
-    #[must_use]
-    pub fn crash_watch_suppressed(&self, name: &str) -> bool {
-        self.crash_suppressed.lock().unwrap().contains(name)
-    }
-
-    /// Every live transient, keyed by agent.
-    ///
-    /// **Derived on read, stored nowhere.** Straight off the running graph, so
-    /// there is no cached copy to go stale, leak, or disagree with what is
-    /// actually running.
-    ///
-    /// Work with no queue node behind it (destroy, migration) therefore shows
-    /// **no pill** — there is nothing in the graph to derive one from. Its
-    /// crash-watch suppression is a separate, narrower thing
-    /// ([`Coordinator::suppress_crash_watch`]); the pill comes back for free
-    /// once those become real nodes.
-    #[must_use]
     pub fn transient_snapshot(&self) -> HashMap<String, TransientState> {
-        self.job_queue
-            .running_transients()
-            .into_iter()
-            .map(|t| {
-                (
-                    t.agent,
-                    TransientState {
-                        label: t.label,
-                        deliberate_stop: t.takes_container_down,
-                        since: t.since,
-                    },
-                )
-            })
-            .collect()
+        self.transient.lock().unwrap().clone()
     }
 
     /// Drop a system message into the given agent's inbox. Wakes the
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard/state_snapshot.rs b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard/state_snapshot.rs
index 04c43935..f86000cb 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard/state_snapshot.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard/state_snapshot.rs
@@ -214,8 +214,7 @@ struct PortConflict {
 #[derive(Serialize)]
 struct TransientView {
     name: String,
-    /// Owned: the label is the running node's wire tag, not one of a fixed set.
-    kind: String,
+    kind: &'static str,
     secs: u64,
 }
 
@@ -534,18 +533,26 @@ fn build_transient_views(
         .filter(|(name, _)| !containers.iter().any(|c| &c.name == *name))
         .map(|(name, st)| TransientView {
             name: name.clone(),
-            kind: st.label.clone(),
-            // Clamped at 0: `since` is wall-clock now (the node's own
-            // `started_at`), so a backwards clock adjustment could otherwise
-            // render a negative age.
-            secs: (hive_sh4re::wire_time::from_secs(hive_sh4re::wire_time::now_unix()) - st.since)
-                .num_seconds()
-                .max(0)
-                .cast_unsigned(),
+            kind: transient_label(st.kind),
+            secs: st.since.elapsed().as_secs(),
         })
         .collect()
 }
 
+fn transient_label(k: crate::coordinator::TransientKind) -> &'static str {
+    use crate::coordinator::TransientKind::{
+        Destroying, Rebuilding, Restarting, Spawning, Starting, Stopping,
+    };
+    match k {
+        Spawning => "spawning",
+        Starting => "starting",
+        Stopping => "stopping",
+        Restarting => "restarting",
+        Rebuilding => "rebuilding",
+        Destroying => "destroying",
+    }
+}
+
 /// Render each pending approval into its dashboard view (short sha for
 /// `MergeConfigPr`, just the name for `Spawn`).
 /// Project a resolved sqlite row into the lean shape the dashboard
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs
index 8c6c8db0..b5451b05 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard_events.rs
@@ -144,15 +144,9 @@ pub enum DashboardEvent {
     TransientSet {
         seq: u64,
         name: String,
-        /// What the pill renders. For queue-driven work this is the running
-        /// node's own wire tag (`"swap"`, `"create"`, `"stop_for_update"`, …) —
-        /// the same vocabulary the DAG view ships. Work with no node behind it
-        /// (destroy, migration) supplies its own (`"destroying"`,
-        /// `"rebuilding"`).
-        ///
-        /// Owned rather than `&'static str`: a label now comes from the node
-        /// that happens to be running, not from a fixed set.
-        transient_kind: String,
+        /// Lifecycle kind: `"spawning"` / `"starting"` / `"stopping"` /
+        /// `"restarting"` / `"rebuilding"` / `"destroying"`.
+        transient_kind: &'static str,
         since_unix: i64,
     },
     /// The matching lifecycle action resolved (success or failure).
@@ -386,7 +380,7 @@ mod tests {
             DashboardEvent::TransientSet {
                 seq: 1,
                 name: "x".into(),
-                transient_kind: "rebuilding".into(),
+                transient_kind: "rebuilding",
                 since_unix: 0,
             },
             DashboardEvent::TransientCleared {
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/exec.rs b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/exec.rs
index 7dcdf4dd..0b73ac76 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/exec.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/exec.rs
@@ -418,11 +418,13 @@ async fn run_reconcile(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>, claim: &Claim) -> Result<NodeOu
 /// out when it observes `wanted = Up` and the container down.
 async fn run_start(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>, claim: &Claim) -> Result<NodeOutput> {
     let name = &claim.agent;
-    // No node-local transient guard: the pill is derived from the running node
-    // set, and `Start` reports `Starting` via `NodeKind::transient_kind`. This
-    // used to take one "only when the DAG holds none", which was a second
-    // derivation covering the gap left by a DAG-level declaration that couldn't
-    // describe a sub-step.
+    // Node-local transient only when the DAG holds none (the
+    // boot-reconcile template); a rebuild/spawn/etc. DAG's lease-window
+    // transient already covers this node.
+    let _guard = claim
+        .transient
+        .is_none()
+        .then(|| coord.transient_guard(name, crate::coordinator::TransientKind::Starting));
     // Run the typed start preamble: ensures the runtime dir exists and
     // writes the nspawn/resource-limits drop-ins. The returned
     // StartableAgent token is the only way to call start_with_fallback —
@@ -447,8 +449,10 @@ async fn run_start(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>, claim: &Claim) -> Result<NodeOutput
 /// out when it observes `wanted = Offline` and the container up.
 async fn run_stop(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>, claim: &Claim) -> Result<NodeOutput> {
     let name = &claim.agent;
-    // See `run_start`: no node-local guard — `Stop` reports `Stopping` from its
-    // own kind now.
+    let _guard = claim
+        .transient
+        .is_none()
+        .then(|| coord.transient_guard(name, crate::coordinator::TransientKind::Stopping));
     crate::lifecycle::kill(name).await?;
     coord.unregister_agent(name);
     coord.notify_manager(&hive_sh4re::HelperEvent::Killed {
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/mod.rs b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/mod.rs
index ada7faad..9300b526 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/mod.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/mod.rs
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ use hive_jobq::{Dep, Graph, NodeId};
 use hive_sh4re::wire_time::now_unix;
 use tokio::sync::Notify;
 
+use crate::coordinator::TransientKind;
 pub use hive_jobq::TerminalState;
 pub use model::{DagSpec, DagView, NodeKind, NodeSpec, PermPayload, Source, State};
 use resource::Resource;
@@ -59,27 +60,6 @@ const MAX_HISTORY_DAGS: usize = 50;
 /// Cap on stored node error strings.
 const MAX_ERROR_LEN: usize = 2_000;
 
-/// One live transient pill, derived from a running node.
-///
-/// A named struct rather than a tuple because three of its four fields are
-/// easy to confuse at a call site: two are strings and two answer questions
-/// nobody should have to guess at ("is this the agent or the label?", "does
-/// this bool mean deliberate or running?").
-#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
-pub struct RunningTransient {
-    /// The agent whose lease the node declared.
-    pub agent: String,
-    /// The node's own wire tag, rendered as the pill.
-    pub label: String,
-    /// Whether this operation is expected to take the container down — the
-    /// crash watcher's input. See [`NodeKind::takes_container_down`].
-    pub takes_container_down: bool,
-    /// When the node started running, so the dashboard can tick elapsed
-    /// seconds. Taken from the node itself, which is the true start of the
-    /// operation rather than the moment a watcher noticed it.
-    pub since: DateTime<Utc>,
-}
-
 /// A node claimed for execution — everything the executor needs, snapshotted at
 /// claim time.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
@@ -90,6 +70,10 @@ pub struct Claim {
     /// The agent this node targets (its own, not a DAG-level field). Empty for
     /// the agentless [`NodeKind::MetaLock`] + [`NodeKind::Dag`] container nodes.
     pub agent: String,
+    /// Transient pill kind for the lease window (from the spec). Whether the
+    /// pill is currently shown is derived from live lease ownership
+    /// ([`JobQueue::held_transients`]), not a per-claim edge.
+    pub transient: Option<TransientKind>,
 }
 
 /// Per-node runtime metadata the crate graph doesn't carry. Lifecycle
@@ -107,6 +91,7 @@ struct NodeRuntime {
 struct DagMeta {
     source: Source,
     reason: String,
+    transient: Option<TransientKind>,
     created_at: i64,
 }
 
@@ -230,6 +215,7 @@ impl JobQueue {
                 NodeKind::Dag {
                     source: spec.source,
                     reason: spec.reason,
+                    transient: spec.transient,
                     created_at: now_unix(),
                 },
                 Vec::new(),
@@ -307,11 +293,15 @@ impl JobQueue {
             let Some(container) = inner.sched.graph().root_of(id) else {
                 continue;
             };
+            let Some(meta) = inner.dag_meta(container) else {
+                continue;
+            };
             claims.push(Claim {
                 dag_id: container.get(),
                 node_id: id,
                 kind,
                 agent,
+                transient: meta.transient,
             });
             // `started_at` is stamped on the graph `Node` by the scheduler's
             // transition to `Running` — no host-side copy needed.
@@ -420,59 +410,24 @@ impl JobQueue {
             .map(ToOwned::to_owned)
     }
 
-    /// `(agent, label, takes_container_down)` for the live transient-pill set,
-    /// recomputed from the nodes **actually running** — not from an intent a
-    /// template declared at submit time. (A rebuild used to report `rebuilding`
-    /// for its whole life: prebuild, stop, swap, tail and reconcile alike.)
-    ///
-    /// A node lights a pill when it is `Running` **and declares the agent's
-    /// resource itself**. Declaring is the test, not targeting — `Prebuild` /
-    /// `MetaSync` name an agent but are lease-exempt on purpose, since the
-    /// container keeps serving through them. Nor is it the lease *owner*:
-    /// `resource_state()` answers "who holds the slot", a different question.
-    ///
-    /// `label` is the node's own wire tag ([`NodeKind::as_str`]), the vocabulary
-    /// [`NodeView::kind`] already ships, so a pill and a DAG node name an
-    /// operation identically. `takes_container_down` is the crash watcher's
-    /// input, carried rather than inferred from the label — a `Start` pill and a
-    /// `Stop` pill are both pills; only one means a vanished container is
-    /// expected.
-    ///
-    /// By design, `Start` / `Stop` / `PostSwap` run inside a lease-holding
-    /// ancestor and re-declare nothing, so they light no pill; closing that is
-    /// the resources-where-constructed work, not this function. An agent's lease
-    /// is cap-1, so at most one entry per agent.
+    /// The `(dag_id, agent, kind)` triples for every per-agent lease currently
+    /// held by a DAG that carries a transient pill — the live transient-pill
+    /// set, a pull query over crate resource ownership (replaces the old
+    /// lease-release event stream). A DAG with no transient kind is omitted.
     #[must_use]
-    pub fn running_transients(&self) -> Vec<RunningTransient> {
+    pub fn held_transients(&self) -> Vec<(u64, String, TransientKind)> {
         let inner = self.lock();
         inner
             .sched
-            .graph()
-            .nodes()
-            .filter(|n| matches!(n.state, State::Running))
-            .filter_map(|n| {
-                let agent = n
-                    .payload
-                    .resource_deps()
-                    .into_iter()
-                    .find_map(|d| match d {
-                        Dep::Resource {
-                            name: Resource::Agent(a),
-                            ..
-                        } => Some(a),
-                        _ => None,
-                    })?;
-                Some(RunningTransient {
-                    agent,
-                    label: n.payload.as_str().to_owned(),
-                    takes_container_down: n.payload.takes_container_down(),
-                    // `started_at` is set when a node enters `Running`, and this
-                    // only sees `Running` nodes — the fallback is unreachable in
-                    // practice, and "just now" is the honest answer if it isn't.
-                    since: n
-                        .started_at
-                        .unwrap_or_else(|| hive_sh4re::wire_time::from_secs(now_unix())),
-                })
+            .resource_state()
+            .into_iter()
+            .filter_map(|(res, holder)| {
+                let Resource::Agent(agent) = res else {
+                    return None;
+                };
+                let container = inner.sched.graph().root_of(holder)?;
+                let kind = inner.dag_meta(container)?.transient?;
+                Some((container.get(), agent, kind))
             })
             .collect()
     }
@@ -526,6 +481,7 @@ impl QueueInner {
         let NodeKind::Dag {
             source,
             reason,
+            transient,
             created_at,
         } = &self.sched.graph().node(container)?.payload
         else {
@@ -534,6 +490,7 @@ impl QueueInner {
         Some(DagMeta {
             source: *source,
             reason: reason.clone(),
+            transient: *transient,
             created_at: *created_at,
         })
     }
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/model.rs b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/model.rs
index 96fba3c3..fa208985 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/model.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/model.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 pub use hive_host_sock::jobs::{DagView, NodeId, PermPayload, Source, State};
 use serde::Serialize;
 
+use crate::coordinator::TransientKind;
+
 use hive_jobq::{DepWhen, TerminalState};
 
 /// A dependency edge (intra-DAG only — cross-DAG ordering comes from
@@ -283,6 +285,7 @@ pub enum NodeKind {
     Dag {
         source: Source,
         reason: String,
+        transient: Option<TransientKind>,
         created_at: i64,
     },
 }
@@ -390,44 +393,6 @@ impl NodeKind {
         )
     }
 
-    /// Whether running this node is *expected* to take the agent's container
-    /// down. Feeds `TransientState::deliberate_stop`, which the crash watcher
-    /// reads to tell an intentional stop from a crash.
-    ///
-    /// This is a **safety** question, not a display one — it decides whether a
-    /// vanished container raises an alert. It is deliberately not derived from
-    /// the pill label: a label is free to be renamed or added without moving
-    /// the alerting boundary, and only the operation itself knows its intent.
-    ///
-    /// Default is `false`, and that asymmetry is the point. A wrong `false`
-    /// costs a spurious crash event; a wrong `true` **swallows a real crash**
-    /// silently. So a kind earns `true` by being listed here, and anything new
-    /// is noisy-but-safe until someone decides otherwise.
-    #[must_use]
-    pub fn takes_container_down(&self) -> bool {
-        matches!(
-            self,
-            // Explicit stops, and the quiesce steps that precede one.
-            NodeKind::Stop { .. }
-                | NodeKind::StopForUpdate { .. }
-                | NodeKind::Signal { .. }
-                | NodeKind::Drain { .. }
-                | NodeKind::SetWanted { up: false, .. }
-                // The rebuild's own machinery: the container is down across the
-                // swap and the drop-in write that reconfigures it.
-                | NodeKind::Swap { .. }
-                | NodeKind::WriteDropin { .. }
-        )
-        // Everything else is `false` on purpose, including the ones that would
-        // be easy to wave through:
-        // - `Create` / `Start` / `SetWanted{up}` bring a container UP. A
-        //   container disappearing *while starting* is a genuine crash and has
-        //   to keep reporting as one.
-        // - `Reconcile` is a planner; it fans out `Start` / `Stop`, which carry
-        //   their own answer.
-        // - `DeployWindow` brackets a deploy without itself stopping anything.
-    }
-
     /// Kinds that **mutate the meta repo** and so must hold the global
     /// [`Resource::MetaWindow`](super::resource::Resource::MetaWindow) for
     /// their duration: no two meta mutations may interleave, because a commit
@@ -498,5 +463,8 @@ pub struct DagSpec {
     pub source: Source,
     /// Free-form "why".
     pub reason: String,
+    /// Dashboard transient pill (and crash-watch suppression) held for
+    /// the lease window — from lease acquisition to DAG terminal.
+    pub transient: Option<crate::coordinator::TransientKind>,
     pub nodes: Vec<NodeSpec>,
 }
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/scheduler.rs b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/scheduler.rs
index 105d5326..d235653b 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/scheduler.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/scheduler.rs
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 //! and on any completion re-evaluate. Concurrency comes from the build-slot
 //! count, not multiple workers.
 //!
-//! Owns the per-agent transient guard (dashboard pill + crash-watch
-//! suppression) that the sync queue core can't hold itself. The guard set is
-//! *reconciled* each loop from [`super::JobQueue::running_transients`], which
-//! reports what is **running right now** under each held agent lease — so the
-//! label tracks the DAG's progress (signal → swap → reconcile) instead of
-//! repeating one intent the template declared before any of it started.
+//! Owns the per-DAG transient guard (dashboard pill + crash-watch suppression)
+//! that the sync queue core can't hold itself. The guard set is *reconciled*
+//! from live lease ownership ([`super::JobQueue::held_transients`]) each loop:
+//! a `(dag, agent)` pill exists for exactly as long as that agent's lease is
+//! held, so it appears when the agent's owner node starts and disappears when
+//! its subgraph settles — one pill per agent a DAG touches.
 //!
 //! Per-DAG terminal work (approval resolution, `Rebuilt`) is not drained here:
 //! it runs as the DAG's focused terminal node (`ResolveApproval` /
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 //! its `Start`/`Stop`) flows through `NodeOutput.append_subgraph`, applied
 //! before the emitting node completes — see `handle_completion`.
 
-use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use super::Claim;
@@ -54,12 +54,8 @@ struct NodeDone {
 pub async fn run_worker(coord: Arc<Coordinator>) {
     let mut shutdown = coord.shutdown_rx();
     let (tx, mut rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::unbounded_channel::<NodeDone>();
-    // Last derived pill set we published, keyed by agent (its lease is cap-1,
-    // so one pill each). Purely the previous value of a *derived* quantity —
-    // it exists to spot transitions, since the dashboard wants edges
-    // (`TransientSet` / `TransientCleared`) and the crash watcher wants the
-    // moment of the clear. Nothing owns a pill; nothing can leak one.
-    let mut transients: HashMap<String, (String, bool)> = HashMap::new();
+    // (DAG id, agent) → transient guard held for that agent's lease window.
+    let mut transients: HashMap<(u64, String), crate::coordinator::TransientGuard> = HashMap::new();
     loop {
         // Checked every iteration, not just in the `select!` below — a
         // continuous stream of ready claims never reaches the `select!`, so
@@ -150,53 +146,18 @@ fn handle_completion(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>, done: NodeDone) {
     coord.emit_rebuild_queue_snapshot();
 }
 
-/// Publish the transitions between the previously-derived pill set and the
-/// current one. `prev` is last loop's derived value, keyed by agent (an agent's
-/// lease is cap-1, so at most one pill each).
-///
-/// The pill set itself isn't owned or stored here — it is
-/// [`super::JobQueue::running_transients`], recomputed from the graph. What this
-/// publishes is the **edges**, which a derived read can't express on its own:
-/// the dashboard wants `TransientSet` / `TransientCleared` events, and the crash
-/// watcher wants the *moment* a pill cleared (its grace window is what keeps an
-/// operator stop from reading as a crash).
-///
-/// There used to be an RAII `TransientGuard` per pill here, and a hazard note
-/// about dropping stale guards before creating new ones or a same-agent label
-/// change would clear the pill it had just set. Both are gone: a guard exists so
-/// a cancelled future can't *leak* an imperatively-set transient, and a derived
-/// set has nothing to leak — a node that stops running simply stops appearing.
-/// (Destroy and migration still take guards; they have no node behind them.)
-///
-/// `deliberate_stop` rides along per node ([`NodeKind::takes_container_down`])
-/// rather than being blanket-`true` for anything holding a lease: `Create` and
-/// `Start` hold the agent's lease too, and a container vanishing *while
-/// starting* is a real crash that must keep reporting as one.
-///
-/// [`NodeKind::takes_container_down`]: super::NodeKind::takes_container_down
-fn reconcile_transients(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>, prev: &mut HashMap<String, (String, bool)>) {
-    let running = coord.job_queue.running_transients();
-
-    // Cleared: in `prev`, gone (or relabelled) now. Emitted before the sets
-    // below so a same-agent label change reads as clear-then-set rather than
-    // two overlapping pills. `deliberate_stop` is carried in `prev` precisely
-    // so it is still available *here* — the node it came from is, by
-    // definition, no longer running to be asked.
-    prev.retain(|agent, (label, deliberate)| {
-        let still = running
-            .iter()
-            .any(|t| &t.agent == agent && &t.label == label);
-        if !still {
-            coord.emit_transient_cleared(agent, *deliberate);
-        }
-        still
-    });
-
-    for t in running {
-        if prev.get(&t.agent).map(|(l, _)| l) == Some(&t.label) {
-            continue;
-        }
-        coord.emit_transient_set(&t.agent, t.label.clone());
-        prev.insert(t.agent, (t.label, t.takes_container_down));
+/// Reconcile the transient-guard set against live lease ownership: drop pills
+/// whose lease is no longer held, create one for each newly-held `(dag, agent)`.
+fn reconcile_transients(
+    coord: &Arc<Coordinator>,
+    transients: &mut HashMap<(u64, String), crate::coordinator::TransientGuard>,
+) {
+    let held = coord.job_queue.held_transients();
+    let keys: HashSet<(u64, String)> = held.iter().map(|(d, a, _)| (*d, a.clone())).collect();
+    transients.retain(|k, _| keys.contains(k));
+    for (dag_id, agent, kind) in held {
+        transients
+            .entry((dag_id, agent.clone()))
+            .or_insert_with(|| coord.transient_guard(&agent, kind));
     }
 }
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/submit.rs b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/submit.rs
index 43955ec9..9ced4137 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/submit.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/submit.rs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 use super::model::{DagSpec, Dep, NodeKind, NodeSpec};
 use super::templates::{RebuildOpts, after_ok, child, node, rebuild_nodes};
 use super::{Source, templates};
-use crate::coordinator::Coordinator;
+use crate::coordinator::{Coordinator, TransientKind};
 use crate::lifecycle;
 
 fn submit_and_emit(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>, spec: super::DagSpec) -> u64 {
@@ -198,10 +198,16 @@ fn concat_subgraphs(chains: Vec<Vec<NodeSpec>>) -> Vec<NodeSpec> {
 /// Wrap assembled power-op `nodes` in a `DagSpec`. No tail node: a power op's
 /// effect is its nodes (`SetWanted` + `Reconcile`), with nothing left to do once
 /// they settle.
-fn power_dag(source: Source, reason: String, nodes: Vec<NodeSpec>) -> DagSpec {
+fn power_dag(
+    transient: TransientKind,
+    source: Source,
+    reason: String,
+    nodes: Vec<NodeSpec>,
+) -> DagSpec {
     DagSpec {
         source,
         reason,
+        transient: Some(transient),
         nodes,
     }
 }
@@ -222,15 +228,18 @@ pub(crate) fn stop_spec(
         .iter()
         .map(|(agent, running)| stop_chain(agent, graceful, *running))
         .collect();
-    power_dag(source, reason, concat_subgraphs(chains))
+    power_dag(
+        TransientKind::Stopping,
+        source,
+        reason,
+        concat_subgraphs(chains),
+    )
 }
 
 /// Assemble the start DAG from explicit `(agent, running, stale)` targets.
-///
-/// No DAG-level pill: each agent's dashboard label is derived from the node
-/// running under its lease, so a down+stale agent that grew a rebuild subgraph
-/// reports `rebuilding` during its swap and `starting` at its reconcile,
-/// without the DAG having to guess one label covering every target.
+/// Transient is `Rebuilding` when any down+stale agent grew a rebuild
+/// subgraph (crash-watch suppression during its Swap), else `Starting`;
+/// applied per-agent at claim time, so each agent still shows its own pill.
 pub(crate) fn start_spec(
     targets: &[(String, bool, bool)],
     source: Source,
@@ -240,7 +249,13 @@ pub(crate) fn start_spec(
         .iter()
         .map(|(agent, running, stale)| start_chain(agent, *running, *stale))
         .collect();
-    power_dag(source, reason, concat_subgraphs(chains))
+    let any_rebuild = targets.iter().any(|(_, running, stale)| !running && *stale);
+    let transient = if any_rebuild {
+        TransientKind::Rebuilding
+    } else {
+        TransientKind::Starting
+    };
+    power_dag(transient, source, reason, concat_subgraphs(chains))
 }
 
 /// Assemble the restart DAG from explicit `(agent, running)` targets.
@@ -254,7 +269,12 @@ pub(crate) fn restart_spec(
         .iter()
         .map(|(agent, running)| restart_chain(agent, graceful, *running))
         .collect();
-    power_dag(source, reason, concat_subgraphs(chains))
+    power_dag(
+        TransientKind::Restarting,
+        source,
+        reason,
+        concat_subgraphs(chains),
+    )
 }
 
 /// Restart a single agent. Thin wrapper over [`restart_many`].
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/templates.rs b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/templates.rs
index 70c6d6a9..19abd54b 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/templates.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/templates.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ use anyhow::{Result, bail};
 use hive_jobq::{DepWhen, TerminalState};
 
 use super::model::{DagSpec, Dep, NodeKind, NodeSpec, PermPayload, Source};
+use crate::coordinator::TransientKind;
 
 /// After-ok edge on the previous node — the common chain link. Shared with
 /// the async power-op builders in `submit.rs` (which assemble per-agent
@@ -366,6 +367,7 @@ pub fn rebuild(agent: &str, source: Source, reason: String, relock: bool) -> Dag
     DagSpec {
         source,
         reason,
+        transient: Some(TransientKind::Rebuilding),
         nodes,
     }
 }
@@ -400,6 +402,7 @@ pub fn approval_deploy(agent: &str, approval_id: i64, reason: String) -> DagSpec
     DagSpec {
         source: Source::Approval,
         reason,
+        transient: Some(TransientKind::Rebuilding),
         nodes: vec![
             node(
                 NodeKind::DeployWindow {
@@ -448,10 +451,16 @@ pub fn approval_deploy(agent: &str, approval_id: i64, reason: String) -> DagSpec
 /// single-node lifecycle DAGs that exercise per-agent lease serialization
 /// in the queue tests); production paths no longer emit a bare reconcile.
 #[cfg(test)]
-pub fn reconcile_only(agent: &str, source: Source, reason: String) -> DagSpec {
+pub fn reconcile_only(
+    agent: &str,
+    source: Source,
+    reason: String,
+    transient: Option<TransientKind>,
+) -> DagSpec {
     DagSpec {
         source,
         reason,
+        transient,
         nodes: vec![node(
             NodeKind::Reconcile {
                 agent: agent.to_owned(),
@@ -476,6 +485,7 @@ pub fn spawn(agent: &str, approval_id: i64, reason: String) -> DagSpec {
     DagSpec {
         source: Source::Approval,
         reason,
+        transient: Some(TransientKind::Spawning),
         nodes: {
             let a = || agent.to_owned();
             vec![
@@ -519,6 +529,7 @@ pub fn perm_change(agent: &str, source: Source, reason: String, payload: PermPay
     DagSpec {
         source,
         reason,
+        transient: Some(TransientKind::Rebuilding),
         nodes,
     }
 }
@@ -557,6 +568,7 @@ pub fn meta_update(
     DagSpec {
         source,
         reason,
+        transient: Some(TransientKind::Rebuilding),
         nodes,
     }
 }
@@ -578,6 +590,7 @@ pub fn reparent(
     DagSpec {
         source,
         reason,
+        transient: None,
         nodes: vec![node(NodeKind::Reparent { moves }, Vec::new())],
     }
 }
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/tests.rs b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/tests.rs
index 49d55bd4..5fd97c49 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/tests.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/job_queue/tests.rs
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ fn graceful_rebuild_chain_drains_before_stopping() {
     let spec = DagSpec {
         source: Source::AutoUpdate,
         reason: "sweep".to_owned(),
-
+        transient: None,
         nodes: templates::rebuild_nodes(
             "agent-a",
             templates::RebuildOpts {
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ fn lease_serializes_two_lifecycle_dags_for_same_agent() {
     let restart = submit(&q, restart_online(&["agent-a"], false, "restart"));
     let stop = submit(
         &q,
-        templates::reconcile_only("agent-a", Source::Manual, "stop".to_owned()),
+        templates::reconcile_only("agent-a", Source::Manual, "stop".to_owned(), None),
     );
     // Restart's first node (StopForUpdate) takes the lease; stop's
     // Reconcile must wait even though slots are free.
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ fn lease_exempt_prebuild_overlaps_other_dag_on_same_agent() {
     submit(&q, rebuild("agent-a", "rebuild"));
     submit(
         &q,
-        templates::reconcile_only("agent-a", Source::Manual, "stop".to_owned()),
+        templates::reconcile_only("agent-a", Source::Manual, "stop".to_owned(), None),
     );
     // Both DAGs' heads are lease-independent of each other: the rebuild's
     // MetaSync (meta window) and the stop's Reconcile (agent lease).
@@ -723,7 +723,7 @@ fn append_subgraph_roots_on_emitter_and_rebases_local_deps() {
     let spec = DagSpec {
         source: Source::AutoUpdate,
         reason: "sweep".to_owned(),
-
+        transient: None,
         nodes: vec![NodeSpec {
             kind: NodeKind::MetaLock {
                 sweep: true,
@@ -789,55 +789,26 @@ fn drain_meta_syncs(q: &JobQueue) -> Vec<(String, String)> {
     rest
 }
 
-/// Crash-watch suppression for a cascade rebuild, which the deleted half of
-/// `meta_update_grows_cascade_in_dag` used to assert via `DagSpec::transient`.
-///
-/// The property is unchanged — a container going down under a rebuild must not
-/// read as a crash — but it is no longer a DAG-level declaration: each node
-/// answers for itself, so the assertion moves to the nodes a cascade actually
-/// runs. Kept as its own test rather than dropped, because it is the *property*
-/// that mattered, not the field that used to carry it.
 #[test]
-fn rebuild_chain_nodes_suppress_crash_watch() {
-    for kind in [
-        NodeKind::StopForUpdate {
-            agent: "a".to_owned(),
-        },
-        NodeKind::Swap {
-            agent: "a".to_owned(),
-        },
-        NodeKind::Drain {
-            agent: "a".to_owned(),
-        },
-    ] {
-        assert!(
-            kind.takes_container_down(),
-            "{} must suppress crash-watch — a rebuild takes the container down \
-             on purpose",
-            kind.as_str()
-        );
-    }
-    // The counter-case, and the reason this can't be "any node in a rebuild":
-    // the tail brings the container back up, so a container that dies there
-    // really did crash.
-    assert!(
-        !NodeKind::Start {
-            agent: "a".to_owned()
-        }
-        .takes_container_down()
-    );
-}
-
-#[test]
-fn meta_update_grows_cascade_in_dag() {
+fn meta_update_carries_rebuilding_transient_and_grows_cascade_in_dag() {
     // The meta-update `MetaLock` grows one rebuild subgraph per affected
     // agent into its OWN DAG (via append_subgraph), not child DAGs.
+    // The DAG carries `Rebuilding` so the folded rebuilds keep crash-watch
+    // suppression (the property the old child Rebuild DAGs had via their own
+    // transient).
     let spec = templates::meta_update(
         vec!["nixpkgs".to_owned()],
         Source::Manual,
         "bump".to_owned(),
         None,
     );
+    assert!(
+        matches!(
+            spec.transient,
+            Some(crate::coordinator::TransientKind::Rebuilding)
+        ),
+        "meta-update DAG must carry Rebuilding so cascade rebuilds get suppression"
+    );
     let q = JobQueue::new(4);
     let id = submit(&q, spec);
     let meta_lock = claim_one(&q);
@@ -1010,7 +981,7 @@ fn failed_reconcile_marks_dag_failed() {
     let q = JobQueue::new(1);
     let id = submit(
         &q,
-        templates::reconcile_only("agent-a", Source::Manual, "start".to_owned()),
+        templates::reconcile_only("agent-a", Source::Manual, "start".to_owned(), None),
     );
     let c = claim_one(&q);
     q.complete_node(c.node_id, Err("start failed".to_owned()));
@@ -1161,7 +1132,7 @@ fn dag_settles_terminal_and_releases_lease_after_work() {
     // immediately.
     let next = submit(
         &q,
-        templates::reconcile_only("agent-a", Source::Manual, "stop".to_owned()),
+        templates::reconcile_only("agent-a", Source::Manual, "stop".to_owned(), None),
     );
     let c = claim_one(&q);
     assert_eq!(c.dag_id, next);
@@ -1430,7 +1401,12 @@ fn history_evicts_oldest_terminals_past_flat_cap() {
     for i in 0..(MAX_HISTORY_DAGS + OVERFLOW) {
         let id = submit(
             &q,
-            templates::reconcile_only(&format!("agent-{i}"), Source::Manual, "start".to_owned()),
+            templates::reconcile_only(
+                &format!("agent-{i}"),
+                Source::Manual,
+                "start".to_owned(),
+                None,
+            ),
         );
         let c = claim_one(&q);
         // Fail the single work node so the DAG *lingers*: a fully-`Done` DAG
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/migrate.rs b/hive-c0re/src/migrate.rs
index f80a30fa..355bba5d 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/migrate.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/migrate.rs
@@ -1,22 +1,8 @@
-//! Startup convergence. Three phases, all idempotent and unguarded:
-//! harness files, applied + proposed repos, meta repo. They re-run every
-//! boot on purpose — each one is a no-op once its state is already
-//! correct.
-//!
-//! Deliberately *not* here, and the distinction is the point:
-//!
-//! - **One-shot, marker-guarded migrations.** Two used to live here
-//!   (repointing containers onto the meta flake, renaming `root` to
-//!   `h-root`); both targeted layouts no live hive still has. Add one
-//!   only if it cannot be expressed as convergence, and expect to delete
-//!   it once every hive has passed it.
-//! - **Create-time setup.** Ruth's tool groups were backfilled here on
-//!   every boot; they are now seeded where she is created
-//!   (`workers::auto_update::ensure_root_agent`). A thing that is true
-//!   from birth does not need re-asserting each morning.
-//!
-//! Kill-switch: `HIVE_SKIP_META_MIGRATION=1`. Full sequence and phase
-//! details: `docs/approvals.md::Migration from the pre-tag`.
+//! Startup auto-migration. Six idempotent phases: applied repo,
+//! proposed repo, meta repo, container repoint, root→h-root rename,
+//! and manager tool-groups backfill.
+//! Kill-switch: `HIVE_SKIP_META_MIGRATION=1`. Full migration sequence
+//! and phase details: `docs/approvals.md::Migration from the pre-tag`.
 
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::sync::Arc;
@@ -28,17 +14,21 @@ use tokio::process::Command;
 use crate::coordinator::Coordinator;
 use crate::lifecycle::{self, AGENT_PREFIX, MANAGER_CONTAINER, MANAGER_NAME};
 use crate::meta;
+use crate::tool_groups;
 
 const KILL_SWITCH: &str = "HIVE_SKIP_META_MIGRATION";
 
-/// Per-shellout timeout for the blocking startup convergence. `run` is
+/// Per-shellout timeouts for the blocking startup migration. `run` is
 /// awaited *before* the daemon starts serving (main.rs), so any child
 /// process that wedges here freezes the whole daemon — admin socket +
-/// dashboard included — with no diagnostics: a git shellout was observed
-/// blocked for 86min under a concurrent `nixos-rebuild`. Every shellout
-/// runs under a timeout that kills the child on elapse, so a stuck phase
-/// degrades to a logged warning instead of a hung boot.
+/// dashboard included — with no diagnostics: a git/container shellout was
+/// observed blocked for 86min under a concurrent `nixos-rebuild`. Every
+/// shellout now runs under a timeout that kills the child on elapse, so a
+/// stuck migration degrades to a logged warning instead of a hung boot.
+/// Git ops are quick; `nixos-container update` can legitimately trigger a
+/// nix build, so it gets a much longer budget.
 const GIT_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_mins(2);
+const CONTAINER_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_mins(10);
 
 /// Substring that identifies the *current* agent flake boilerplate.
 /// Bumped whenever the template changes so the startup migration
@@ -105,6 +95,45 @@ pub async fn run(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>) -> Result<()> {
         Ok(Ok(())) => {}
     }
 
+    // Phase 4: container repoint, guarded by marker.
+    if crate::paths::meta_migration_marker().exists() {
+        tracing::debug!("migration: phase 4 marker present, skipping repoint");
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+    tracing::debug!("migration: phase 4 (container repoint)");
+    let mut all_ok = true;
+    for name in &names {
+        // Mark Rebuilding so the crash watcher skips this container
+        // during the brief stop+start window the nixos-container
+        // update activation triggers. Without this, crash_watch
+        // would fire ContainerCrash for every agent here and the
+        // manager would spuriously try to recover them.
+        let guard =
+            coord.transient_guard(name.as_str(), crate::coordinator::TransientKind::Rebuilding);
+        let result = repoint_container(name.as_str()).await;
+        drop(guard);
+        if let Err(e) = result {
+            tracing::warn!(%name, error = ?e, "migration: container repoint failed");
+            all_ok = false;
+        }
+    }
+    if all_ok
+        && !names.is_empty()
+        && let Err(e) = std::fs::write(crate::paths::meta_migration_marker(), b"done\n")
+    {
+        tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "migration: write repoint marker failed");
+    }
+
+    // Phase 5: rename `root` nixos-container to `h-root` for naming
+    // consistency with sub-agents. Guarded by marker; skipped on
+    // fresh installs (conf file absent) and after first successful run.
+    rename_manager_container(coord).await;
+
+    // Phase 6: ensure ruth has explicit tool groups so removing the
+    // role-based fallback (Role::Manager → MANAGER_DEFAULT) doesn't
+    // silently strip her privileged tools on next rebuild.
+    backfill_manager_tool_groups(&names);
+
     Ok(())
 }
 
@@ -139,6 +168,105 @@ fn migrate_harness_files(name: &hive_types::Ident) {
     }
 }
 
+/// Phase 5: rename the `root` nixos-container to `h-root` so the
+/// manager container name is consistent with the `h-` prefix used by
+/// all sub-agents. Idempotent and marker-guarded. Steps:
+///
+/// 1. Check `/etc/nixos-containers/root.conf` exists (old name present).
+/// 2. Stop the `root` container.
+/// 3. Copy `root.conf` → `h-root.conf`.
+/// 4. Move `/var/lib/nixos-containers/root/` → `h-root/` (if present).
+/// 5. `systemctl daemon-reload` so systemd sees the new unit name.
+/// 6. `nixos-container start h-root`.
+/// 7. Write the done marker.
+///
+/// Best-effort: logs warnings on failure. A failed rename leaves both
+/// conf files present; on the next hive-c0re start the marker is
+/// absent so the phase retries.
+async fn rename_manager_container(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>) {
+    if crate::paths::hroot_rename_marker().exists() {
+        return;
+    }
+    let old_conf = std::path::PathBuf::from("/etc/nixos-containers/root.conf");
+    let new_conf = std::path::PathBuf::from("/etc/nixos-containers/h-root.conf");
+    if !old_conf.exists() {
+        // Fresh install — root container was never created under the old name.
+        let _ = std::fs::write(crate::paths::hroot_rename_marker(), b"done\n");
+        return;
+    }
+    if new_conf.exists() {
+        // Already renamed (but marker was lost — write it and return).
+        tracing::info!("migration phase 5: h-root.conf already present, marking done");
+        let _ = std::fs::write(crate::paths::hroot_rename_marker(), b"done\n");
+        return;
+    }
+    tracing::info!("migration phase 5: renaming root container to h-root");
+    let _guard = coord.transient_guard(MANAGER_NAME, crate::coordinator::TransientKind::Rebuilding);
+
+    // Stop the old container. Abort if stop fails — continuing with a
+    // running `root` and then starting `h-root` risks two manager
+    // instances racing for the same broker / state files.
+    match Command::new("nixos-container")
+        .args(["stop", "root"])
+        .status()
+        .await
+    {
+        Ok(s) if s.success() => {}
+        Ok(s) => {
+            tracing::warn!(status = %s, "migration phase 5: nixos-container stop root failed — aborting");
+            return;
+        }
+        Err(e) => {
+            tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "migration phase 5: nixos-container stop root failed — aborting");
+            return;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Copy conf file.
+    if let Err(e) = std::fs::copy(&old_conf, &new_conf) {
+        tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "migration phase 5: copy root.conf failed — aborting");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    // Move rootfs if it exists (may be absent for ephemeral containers).
+    let old_rootfs = std::path::PathBuf::from("/var/lib/nixos-containers/root");
+    let new_rootfs = std::path::PathBuf::from("/var/lib/nixos-containers/h-root");
+    if old_rootfs.exists()
+        && !new_rootfs.exists()
+        && let Err(e) = std::fs::rename(&old_rootfs, &new_rootfs)
+    {
+        tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "migration phase 5: rename rootfs failed (non-fatal)");
+    }
+
+    // Daemon reload so systemd picks up the new container@h-root unit.
+    if let Err(e) = Command::new("systemctl")
+        .args(["daemon-reload"])
+        .status()
+        .await
+    {
+        tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "migration phase 5: systemctl daemon-reload failed");
+    }
+
+    // Start the renamed container.
+    if let Err(e) = Command::new("nixos-container")
+        .args(["start", "h-root"])
+        .status()
+        .await
+    {
+        tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "migration phase 5: nixos-container start h-root failed");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    tracing::info!("migration phase 5: root container renamed to h-root");
+    let _ = std::fs::write(crate::paths::hroot_rename_marker(), b"done\n");
+    // Clean up the old conf file so `nixos-container list` doesn't show
+    // a stale stopped `root` entry. Best-effort; a failure here is
+    // harmless — h-root is already running and the marker is written.
+    if let Err(e) = std::fs::remove_file(&old_conf) {
+        tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "migration phase 5: remove old root.conf failed (non-fatal)");
+    }
+}
+
 async fn enumerate_agents() -> Vec<hive_types::Ident> {
     let containers = lifecycle::list().await.unwrap_or_default();
     containers
@@ -198,6 +326,57 @@ async fn migrate_applied_repo(name: &str) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
+async fn repoint_container(name: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    let container = lifecycle::container_name(name);
+    let flake_ref = format!("{}#{name}", crate::paths::meta_root().display());
+    let mut cmd = Command::new("nixos-container");
+    cmd.args(["update", &container, "--flake", &flake_ref]);
+    let out = output_with_timeout(
+        cmd,
+        CONTAINER_TIMEOUT,
+        &format!("nixos-container update {container}"),
+    )
+    .await?;
+    if !out.status.success() {
+        anyhow::bail!(
+            "nixos-container update {container} exited {}: {}",
+            out.status,
+            String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr).trim()
+        );
+    }
+    tracing::info!(%name, %container, "migration: container repointed at meta");
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Phase 6: if ruth is a deployed agent and has no explicit entry in
+/// `tool-groups.json`, set her groups to `MANAGER_DEFAULT` (all groups).
+/// Idempotent — skips when entry already present. Prevents a silent tool
+/// downgrade when upgrading from a build that relied on the manager-flavor
+/// fallback in `effective_tool_groups()`.
+fn backfill_manager_tool_groups(names: &[hive_types::Ident]) {
+    if !names.iter().any(|n| n.as_str() == MANAGER_NAME) {
+        return; // ruth not deployed — nothing to backfill
+    }
+    let existing = tool_groups::groups_for(MANAGER_NAME);
+    if !existing.is_empty() {
+        tracing::debug!("migration: ruth already has explicit tool groups — skipping backfill");
+        return;
+    }
+    let all_groups: Vec<String> = hive_sh4re::ToolGroup::MANAGER_DEFAULT
+        .iter()
+        .map(|g| g.as_str().to_owned())
+        .collect();
+    match tool_groups::set_groups(MANAGER_NAME, &all_groups) {
+        Ok(()) => tracing::info!(
+            "migration: backfilled ruth's tool groups to MANAGER_DEFAULT (all groups)"
+        ),
+        Err(e) => tracing::warn!(
+            error = ?e,
+            "migration: failed to backfill ruth's tool groups — she may lose privileged tools on next rebuild"
+        ),
+    }
+}
+
 /// Run a command to completion under a timeout, capturing its output. On
 /// timeout the child is killed (`kill_on_drop`) and an error is returned,
 /// so a wedged shellout can never freeze startup migration. `what` is a
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/paths.rs b/hive-c0re/src/paths.rs
index b98c2c64..e657ed39 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/paths.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/paths.rs
@@ -248,6 +248,18 @@ pub fn matrix_register_token() -> PathBuf {
     state_root().join("matrix-register-token")
 }
 
+/// `.meta-migration-done` — one-shot marker: legacy meta layout migrated.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn meta_migration_marker() -> PathBuf {
+    state_root().join(".meta-migration-done")
+}
+
+/// `.hroot-rename-done` — one-shot marker: legacy hive-root rename applied.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn hroot_rename_marker() -> PathBuf {
+    state_root().join(".hroot-rename-done")
+}
+
 /// `/run/hyperhive` — the runtime root (host admin socket + per-agent dirs).
 #[must_use]
 pub fn runtime_root() -> PathBuf {
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/workers/auto_update.rs b/hive-c0re/src/workers/auto_update.rs
index 599d6796..36e42477 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/workers/auto_update.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/workers/auto_update.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ use anyhow::Result;
 
 use crate::coordinator::Coordinator;
 use crate::lifecycle::{self, AGENT_PREFIX, MANAGER_NAME};
-use crate::tool_groups;
 
 /// Resolve the current rev of `hyperhive_flake`. For a path on disk we
 /// canonicalize (following symlinks) so a /etc/hyperhive → /nix/store/...
@@ -147,7 +146,6 @@ pub async fn ensure_root_agent(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>) -> Result<()> {
     let hive = coord.hive_env();
     let paths = Coordinator::agent_paths(MANAGER_NAME, runtime);
     lifecycle::spawn(MANAGER_NAME, &hive, &paths).await?;
-    seed_manager_tool_groups();
     if let Err(e) = coord.power.set(MANAGER_NAME, crate::power::Wanted::Up) {
         tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "agent_power: set manager wanted=up failed");
     }
@@ -157,35 +155,6 @@ pub async fn ensure_root_agent(coord: &Arc<Coordinator>) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-/// Give ruth her privileged tool groups on the one path that creates her.
-///
-/// `effective_tool_groups()` has no manager-flavour fallback, so an agent
-/// with no entry in `tool-groups.json` is an agent with no privileged
-/// tools. Ruth needs hers from her first turn, and this is the only place
-/// she is brought into existence — so it is written once, here, rather
-/// than re-checked on every hive-c0re boot.
-///
-/// Skips a name that already has an entry: a destroy+recreate under the
-/// same name must not silently reset an operator's chosen group set back
-/// to the default.
-fn seed_manager_tool_groups() {
-    if !tool_groups::groups_for(MANAGER_NAME).is_empty() {
-        tracing::debug!("manager tool groups already set — leaving as-is");
-        return;
-    }
-    let all_groups: Vec<String> = hive_sh4re::ToolGroup::MANAGER_DEFAULT
-        .iter()
-        .map(|g| g.as_str().to_owned())
-        .collect();
-    match tool_groups::set_groups(MANAGER_NAME, &all_groups) {
-        Ok(()) => tracing::info!("seeded ruth's tool groups to MANAGER_DEFAULT (all groups)"),
-        Err(e) => tracing::warn!(
-            error = ?e,
-            "failed to seed ruth's tool groups — she will start without privileged tools"
-        ),
-    }
-}
-
 /// Sort `names` in-place so parents precede their children in the topology.
 /// Uses BFS from root agents (depth 0). Agents absent from `topo` sort last,
 /// alphabetically within their tier. Stable within each depth tier.
@@ -384,6 +353,7 @@ fn submit_boot_tree(
         // Rebuilding when the sweep will grow rebuild subgraphs (per-agent
         // crash-watch suppression during their Swap, applied at claim time);
         // a reconcile-only boot needs no transient.
+        transient: any_stale.then_some(crate::coordinator::TransientKind::Rebuilding),
         nodes,
     };
     if let Err(e) = coord.job_queue.submit(spec) {
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/workers/crash_watch.rs b/hive-c0re/src/workers/crash_watch.rs
index 73999f1c..49111296 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/workers/crash_watch.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/workers/crash_watch.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use crate::container_view::claude_has_session;
-use crate::coordinator::Coordinator;
+use crate::coordinator::{Coordinator, TransientKind};
 use crate::lifecycle::{self, AGENT_PREFIX};
 
 const POLL_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_secs(10);
@@ -87,13 +87,7 @@ fn emit_crash_transitions(coord: &Coordinator, prev: &HashSet<String>, current:
     // guard between two crash-watch polls.
     let recent = coord.recent_transient_within(RECENT_TRANSIENT_GRACE);
     for stopped in prev.difference(current) {
-        // Two sources, because a container can go down on purpose either way:
-        // a running queue node that declared it takes the container down, or a
-        // no-node operation (destroy, migration) holding a suppression guard.
-        let active = transients
-            .get(stopped)
-            .map(|st| st.deliberate_stop)
-            .or_else(|| coord.crash_watch_suppressed(stopped).then_some(true));
+        let active = transients.get(stopped).map(|st| st.kind);
         let recently_cleared = recent.get(stopped).copied();
         if is_deliberate_stop(active, recently_cleared) {
             continue;
@@ -107,19 +101,26 @@ fn emit_crash_transitions(coord: &Coordinator, prev: &HashSet<String>, current:
     }
 }
 
-/// Pure classifier: did an operation take this container down on purpose, or
-/// did it crash? Splits the matcher out so it has a focused unit test without
-/// needing a Coordinator fixture. `active` is the currently-set transient's
-/// `deliberate_stop` (if any), `recently_cleared` is one whose RAII guard
-/// dropped within the grace window.
-///
-/// This reads the flag the transient's creator set and nothing else. It used to
-/// match a `TransientKind`, which meant a pill's *display* vocabulary decided a
-/// crash-alert question — so renaming or adding a label silently moved the
-/// alerting boundary. Whoever starts the operation knows whether the container
-/// is meant to go down; nothing downstream can re-derive it.
-fn is_deliberate_stop(active: Option<bool>, recently_cleared: Option<bool>) -> bool {
-    active.unwrap_or(false) || recently_cleared.unwrap_or(false)
+/// Pure classifier: did the operator stop / restart / destroy /
+/// rebuild this container, or did it crash? Splits the matcher out
+/// so it has a focused unit test without needing a Coordinator
+/// fixture. `active` is the currently-set transient (if any),
+/// `recently_cleared` is one whose RAII guard dropped within the
+/// grace window.
+fn is_deliberate_stop(
+    active: Option<TransientKind>,
+    recently_cleared: Option<TransientKind>,
+) -> bool {
+    let is_op_kind = |kind: TransientKind| {
+        matches!(
+            kind,
+            TransientKind::Stopping
+                | TransientKind::Restarting
+                | TransientKind::Destroying
+                | TransientKind::Rebuilding
+        )
+    };
+    active.is_some_and(is_op_kind) || recently_cleared.is_some_and(is_op_kind)
 }
 
 fn emit_login_transitions(
@@ -167,12 +168,29 @@ mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
     #[test]
-    fn deliberate_when_either_source_says_so() {
-        // Active guard, and the race repro: a lifecycle action completes and
-        // drops its guard between two polls, so only `recent` still carries it.
-        assert!(is_deliberate_stop(Some(true), None));
-        assert!(is_deliberate_stop(None, Some(true)));
-        assert!(is_deliberate_stop(Some(true), Some(true)));
+    fn deliberate_when_active_transient_is_operator_kind() {
+        for kind in [
+            TransientKind::Stopping,
+            TransientKind::Restarting,
+            TransientKind::Destroying,
+            TransientKind::Rebuilding,
+        ] {
+            assert!(is_deliberate_stop(Some(kind), None), "{kind:?}");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn deliberate_when_recent_transient_is_operator_kind() {
+        // Race repros: lifecycle action completes + drops the guard
+        // between two polls. recent_transient catches it.
+        for kind in [
+            TransientKind::Stopping,
+            TransientKind::Restarting,
+            TransientKind::Destroying,
+            TransientKind::Rebuilding,
+        ] {
+            assert!(is_deliberate_stop(None, Some(kind)), "{kind:?}");
+        }
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -182,16 +200,13 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn not_deliberate_when_the_operation_was_bringing_the_container_up() {
-        // The case that used to be spelled `Spawning` / `Starting`: an
-        // operation IS in flight, but it is not one that takes the container
-        // down, so a container that vanishes under it really did crash.
-        //
-        // This is why `deliberate_stop` is carried rather than inferred from
-        // the pill — `Create` and `Start` hold the agent's lease exactly like
-        // `Stop` does, so "has a pill" cannot answer this.
-        assert!(!is_deliberate_stop(Some(false), None));
-        assert!(!is_deliberate_stop(None, Some(false)));
-        assert!(!is_deliberate_stop(Some(false), Some(false)));
+    fn not_deliberate_when_only_spawning_starting() {
+        // Spawning/Starting are never paired with a "stopped" transition
+        // — they're starts. If we see one alongside a stop, it's
+        // unrelated (e.g. just-started container died), still a crash.
+        for kind in [TransientKind::Spawning, TransientKind::Starting] {
+            assert!(!is_deliberate_stop(Some(kind), None), "{kind:?} active");
+            assert!(!is_deliberate_stop(None, Some(kind)), "{kind:?} recent");
+        }
     }
 }