feat(fleet): give the media servers an I/O share that actually exists

A Plex section scan walked 50k files at ~850 r/s and nothing bounded it.
`IOWeight=` in a quadlet looks like the fix and does nothing: systemd delegates
`cpu memory pids` to user@.service and NOT io, and it drops a resource line it
cannot honour without a word — the container boots healthy and its cgroup has no
io.weight file at all. Same family as RequiresMountsFor= (inert in the user
manager) and ConditionPathIsMountPoint= (fail-dead).

Place the two system drop-ins that make the controller reachable (user.slice
IOAccounting=yes puts io in user.slice/cgroup.subtree_control, measured
immediately; user@1000.service DelegateControllers gains io and lands at the
next reboot, because restarting the user manager would kill every rootless
container on the host), then ask for the share: IOWeight=10 on jellyfin and plex.
10 is a convention, not a measured optimum — proportional share, only bites
under contention, only requirement is far below the default 100.

ensure_user_io_delegate places both from git and prints NOTE: io is not
delegated … inert until the next reboot, so the quadlet line never reads as live
config. Verified on the host: subtree_control flipped to `cpu io memory pids`,
the drop-in is attached and parsed (systemctl cat), and the podman 5.7 generator
emits IOWeight=10 for both units (bare key; UnitConfigItem= not needed).

Two limits recorded instead of hidden: a container's weight covers its whole
cgroup (scan and playback share it), and the comparison happens inside
user.slice, so it cannot push a rootless unit below a root unit such as
frank-archon — that pairing is user.slice's own weight, a separate call.

Docs: Quadlet Lifecycle 4b (the three-command read of the chain), Pi-hole (all
rootless containers share one 10.0.2.100, so one chatty container throttles DNS
for the host — 8 events today), E2E Suite gotcha 7 (the gate depends on the
runner's resolver: 21 reds on a lost wired link, 37/37 minutes later).

Seam: an in-repo IOWeight= may only exist when both drop-ins exist AND the
deployer places them. ./tests/run.sh: 789 ok, exit 0.

AGENTS.md

@@ -156,6 +156,15 @@ Unit requirements:
   (`<host>/<svc>/quadlet/`), is installed by the deployer, and is covered by
   the quadlet test seam. The host-side unit is generated state; the repo file
   is the source of truth.
+- **Bind-source gate** — a unit whose `Volume=` source is a mount this host owns
+  (the entropy array, the metadata view) carries
+  `ExecStartPre=/home/dank/serverAppConfigs/scripts/wait-for-mount.sh <source>`.
+  Measured 2026-10-31: in a **rootless** unit `RequiresMountsFor=` is inert (the
+  user manager cannot order against the system's mount unit), and
+  `ConditionPathIsMountPoint=` is fail-*dead* — an unmet condition logs `skipped,
+  unmet condition check` with `NRestarts=0` and no start attempt ever follows.
+  Bind the array before it is mounted and the container sees the empty pre-mount
+  directory as truth; a media scan then deletes the library it cannot see.
 
 Before declaring a service deployed: `systemctl --user is-enabled <name>` →
 `enabled`, `is-active` → `active`, and the container answers its health check.

dankserver/copyparty/quadlet/copyparty.container

@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ Volume=/home/dank/Containers/copyparty/cfg:/cfg
 PublishPort=3923:3923
 
 [Service]
+# /w is the array: serving the pre-mount directory instead of the volume shows an
+# empty share and nothing complains, so the mount has to answer first.
+ExecStartPre=/home/dank/serverAppConfigs/scripts/wait-for-mount.sh /mnt/entropy
 EnvironmentFile=/home/dank/Containers/copyparty/env
 Restart=always
 RestartSec=5

dankserver/host/systemd/user.slice.d/io-accounting.conf

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# The io controller is what makes IOWeight= mean anything, and systemd does not
+# enable it below `user.slice` by default: with io accounting off, `io` never
+# appears in `user.slice/cgroup.subtree_control`, so no rootless container can
+# have an `io.weight` file and `IOWeight=` in a quadlet is silently inert.
+# Measured on Dankserver 2026-10-31: setting this property flipped
+# `user.slice/cgroup.subtree_control` from `cpu memory pids` to `cpu io memory
+# pids` immediately, with nothing restarted.
+#
+# This is half the fix; the other half is delegating io to user@1000.service
+# (user@1000.service.d/io-delegate.conf). Both must be in place before a reboot,
+# because the delegation is read when the user manager starts. Law and the
+# verification command: [[Quadlet Lifecycle]].
+[Slice]
+IOAccounting=yes

dankserver/host/systemd/user@1000.service.d/io-delegate.conf

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# The system manager gives the user manager cpu/memory/pids by default (systemd
+# 259: `systemctl show user@1000.service -p DelegateControllers` → `cpu memory
+# pids`). Without `io` in that set no `io.weight` file can exist anywhere below
+# `user.slice`, so `IOWeight=` in a rootless quadlet is silently inert — the same
+# class of trap as `RequiresMountsFor=`. Granting the controller here is what
+# makes the media servers' I/O share real.
+#
+# Inert until `user@1000.service` starts again, i.e. the next reboot (restarting
+# it would kill every rootless container on the host). Verify after the reboot
+# with the check in [[Quadlet Lifecycle]].
+[Service]
+DelegateControllers=cpu memory pids io

dankserver/jellyfin/quadlet/jellyfin.container

@@ -43,11 +43,10 @@ PublishPort=1900:1900/udp
 Volume=/home/dank/Containers/jellyfin/config:/config
 Volume=/home/dank/Containers/jellyfin/cache:/cache
 # The view, writable: Jellyfin is the metadata writer (movie.nfo / tvshow.nfo /
-# episode.nfo + artwork) and those bytes belong on the SSD. The condition is the
-# fail-closed guard — starting against a plain, unmounted view directory would let
-# a scan conclude the library is empty.
+# episode.nfo + artwork) and those bytes belong on the SSD. The gate in [Service]
+# is the guard: started against a plain, unmounted view directory a scan decides
+# the library is empty and deletes what it cannot see.
 Volume=/var/lib/media-meta/view:/data
-UnitConfigItem=ConditionPathIsMountPoint=/var/lib/media-meta/view
 AddDevice=/dev/dri
 GroupAdd=keep-groups
 HealthCmd=curl -f http://localhost:8096/health
@@ -56,8 +55,19 @@ HealthTimeout=10s
 HealthRetries=3
 
 [Service]
+# Refuse to start until the bind source is a real mount — see the header of
+# scripts/wait-for-mount.sh for the blind-boot incident this prevents.
+ExecStartPre=/home/dank/serverAppConfigs/scripts/wait-for-mount.sh /var/lib/media-meta/view /mnt/entropy
 Restart=always
 RestartSec=5
 
+# A library scan reads the array for minutes on end. Weighted LOW (default is
+# 100) so that when the array is contended a scan loses to playback and to every
+# other container this user runs. Proportional share, not a cap: it changes
+# nothing while the disk is idle. 10 is a convention — the requirement is only
+# that it sit far below 100 — and it is inert until user@1000.service is
+# delegated the io controller ([[Quadlet Lifecycle]]).
+IOWeight=10
+
 [Install]
 WantedBy=default.target

dankserver/plex/quadlet/plex.container

@@ -16,12 +16,21 @@ Volume=/var/lib/plexmediaserver:/config
 # to the overlay view re-points Plex at the sidecars without touching its DB.
 # Read-only: Plex consumes the NFO files Jellyfin writes and writes no metadata.
 Volume=/var/lib/media-meta/view:/mnt/entropy:ro
-UnitConfigItem=ConditionPathIsMountPoint=/var/lib/media-meta/view
 PublishPort=32400:32400
 
 [Service]
+# Refuse to start until the bind source is a real mount: Plex blind is how paths
+# get marked missing in its own database. Both the view and the array under it
+# must answer — scripts/wait-for-mount.sh names the 2026-10-31 incident.
+ExecStartPre=/home/dank/serverAppConfigs/scripts/wait-for-mount.sh /var/lib/media-meta/view /mnt/entropy
 Restart=always
 RestartSec=5
 
+# See the jellyfin unit for the reasoning: a section scan gets a LOW weight
+# (default 100) so a walk of 50k files loses the array to playback and to every
+# other container under this user. Inert until user@1000.service holds the io
+# controller ([[Quadlet Lifecycle]]).
+IOWeight=10
+
 [Install]
 WantedBy=default.target

scripts/deploy-remote.sh

@@ -1208,14 +1208,47 @@ ensure_media_view() {
     # array below stays read-only and every sidecar Jellyfin writes lands on the
     # NVMe.
     # Raise it BEFORE either container starts — a start against a bare view
-    # directory would let a scan clear the library database. The units also carry
-    # ConditionPathIsMountPoint, so a missing view skips the start rather than
-    # damaging anything. A relayout must be followed by `media-view.sh reap`
+    # directory would let a scan clear the library database. Each unit gates on
+    # scripts/wait-for-mount.sh, which waits and then refuses the start. A
+    # relayout must be followed by `media-view.sh reap`
     # (see the Media Relayout page), which this is not.
     run_privileged bash scripts/media-view.sh install
     bash scripts/media-view.sh verify
 }
 
+ensure_user_io_delegate() {
+    # The media servers ask for an I/O share (IOWeight= in their quadlets) so a
+    # library scan cannot starve playback or the array's other reader. Two system
+    # drop-ins are what make that request real, and both are host state, so the
+    # deployer places them:
+    #   user.slice.d/io-accounting.conf        io enters user.slice's subtree
+    #   user@1000.service.d/io-delegate.conf   the user manager gets the controller
+    # Without the first, `io` never appears in user.slice/cgroup.subtree_control,
+    # so no container under it can have an io.weight file at all; without the
+    # second the user manager never asks for the controller. systemd hands
+    # user@.service cpu/memory/pids by default and drops a line it cannot honour
+    # without a word — IOWeight= on its own is inert config.
+    local src dst
+    for src in \
+        dankserver/host/systemd/user.slice.d/io-accounting.conf \
+        dankserver/host/systemd/user@1000.service.d/io-delegate.conf; do
+        dst=/etc/systemd/system/${src#dankserver/host/systemd/}
+        run_privileged mkdir -p "$(dirname "$dst")"
+        if ! run_privileged cmp -s "$src" "$dst"; then
+            run_privileged install -m 644 "$src" "$dst"
+            run_privileged systemctl daemon-reload
+        fi
+    done
+    # Accounting lands immediately; the delegation is read when user@1000.service
+    # starts, and restarting that unit would kill every rootless container on this
+    # host. So the share becomes real at the next reboot — say so out loud rather
+    # than let a quadlet line read as live config.
+    if ! systemctl show user@1000.service -p DelegateControllers | grep -qw io; then
+        echo "NOTE: io is not delegated to user@1000.service yet - IOWeight= is"
+        echo "NOTE: inert until the next reboot (see [[Quadlet Lifecycle]])"
+    fi
+}
+
 ensure_provider_keys() {
     # Jellyfin's metadata-provider keys live in the container-owned plugin
     # configuration under the data root, never in git; scripts/jellyfin-providers.sh
@@ -1237,6 +1270,7 @@ ensure_provider_keys() {
 
 deploy_jellyfin() {
     ensure_media_view
+    ensure_user_io_delegate
     ensure_provider_keys
     cp "dankserver/jellyfin/quadlet/jellyfin.container" "$quadlet_unit_dir/"
     systemctl --user daemon-reload
@@ -1326,6 +1360,7 @@ deploy_copyparty() {
 
 deploy_plex() {
     ensure_media_view
+    ensure_user_io_delegate
     cp "dankserver/plex/quadlet/plex.container" "$quadlet_unit_dir/"
     systemctl --user daemon-reload
     if ! systemctl --user is-active -q plex.service; then

scripts/wait-for-mount.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# wait-for-mount.sh — refuse a container start until what it binds is mounted.
+#
+# Why this exists (live 2026-10-31, Dankserver): a rootless quadlet cannot order
+# itself against a SYSTEM mount unit. `RequiresMountsFor=/mnt/entropy` in a user
+# unit resolves to nothing and is inert, so when the array's mount finished a
+# second after podman resolved the bind, Jellyfin and Plex started against the
+# pre-mount directory. Their library root looked EMPTY and Jellyfin began
+# deleting metadata by the thousand (`Removing item, Type: "Season"`). A blind
+# bind is not a cosmetic fault; it is a metadata-deleting machine.
+#
+# A `ConditionPathIsMountPoint=` is NOT the fix, measured on the same host: an
+# unmet condition logs "skipped, unmet condition check", NRestarts=0, and no
+# start attempt ever follows — the unit stays dead until a human starts it.
+# That is fail-dead. This script WAITS (the mount usually lands within seconds)
+# and only then refuses, so `Restart=always` carries the unit across the race.
+#
+# usage: wait-for-mount.sh [-t SECONDS] MOUNTPOINT [MOUNTPOINT...]
+#   exit 0  every path is a mountpoint
+#   exit 1  a path is still not a mountpoint after the window (named on stderr)
+#   exit 2  usage error
+set -euo pipefail
+
+usage() { printf 'usage: %s [-t SECONDS] MOUNTPOINT [MOUNTPOINT...]\n' "$0"; }
+
+window=90
+while getopts ":t:h" opt; do
+    case "$opt" in
+        t) window=$OPTARG ;;
+        h) usage; exit 0 ;;
+        *) usage >&2; exit 2 ;;
+    esac
+done
+shift $((OPTIND - 1))
+
+[ "$#" -ge 1 ] || { usage >&2; exit 2; }
+case "$window" in
+    '' | *[!0-9]*) printf 'refused: -t wants whole seconds, got %s\n' "$window" >&2; exit 2 ;;
+esac
+
+is_mount() { findmnt -M "$1" -rno TARGET >/dev/null 2>&1; }
+
+report() {
+    local why=$1; shift
+    printf '%s:' "$why"
+    for p in "$@"; do printf ' %s' "$p"; done
+    printf '\n'
+}
+
+deadline=$(( $(date +%s) + window ))
+warned=0
+while :; do
+    missing=()
+    for path in "$@"; do
+        is_mount "$path" || missing+=("$path")
+    done
+    [ "${#missing[@]}" -eq 0 ] && break
+
+    if [ "$(date +%s)" -ge "$deadline" ]; then
+        report "refused: still not mounted after ${window}s" "${missing[@]}" >&2
+        printf 'refusing to start: a container bind-mounted here would see the empty\n' >&2
+        printf 'directory underneath and conclude the library is empty — which is how a\n' >&2
+        printf 'scan begins deleting metadata it cannot find.\n' >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    if [ "$warned" -eq 0 ]; then
+        report "waiting for mount(s) this unit depends on" "${missing[@]}"
+        warned=1
+    fi
+    sleep 1
+done
+
+[ "$warned" -eq 0 ] || printf 'mounted; proceeding.\n'
+exit 0

serverAppConfigs-docs/Architecture/E2E Suite.md

@@ -100,3 +100,12 @@ aborts with `DEPLOY INCOMPLETE: e2e gate FAILED` when it does not pass
    hand-off list (`HANDOFFS`) instead of a single host. The guard contract is
    untouched: challenge cleared, no authentik `uidField`, status < 500, and every
    host NOT in the list still has to land on its own vhost.
+7. **The runner's resolver is part of the suite.** A 2026-10-31 deploy of one
+   Dankserver quadlet failed the gate with 21 reds spread over SSO, homepage RBAC
+   and every vhost crawl — precisely the specs that navigate to an absolute
+   `*.franksdank.cloud` name, while every spec on the relative `baseURL` stayed
+   green. The error was `net::ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED`: the workstation had lost its
+   wired link, and on the fallback its resolver was no longer pinned to Pi-hole.
+   Nothing on the fleet was wrong — the same suite re-run minutes later passed
+   37/37. Before a mass red gets blamed on the guard chain, run
+   `resolvectl query grafana.franksdank.cloud` on the box that runs the gate.

serverAppConfigs-docs/Architecture/Quadlet Lifecycle.md

@@ -167,6 +167,43 @@ Gate: `tests/quadlet_image_pins.bats`. Where upstream publishes no version
 tags (copyparty-ac stops at 1.19.15), pin `:latest@sha256:` and name the
 version the config label carries in the comment beside it.
 
+## 4b. Resource control needs host permission (measured 2026-10-31, Dankserver)
+
+`IOWeight=` in a rootless quadlet does nothing on its own, and nothing says so.
+The system manager delegates `cpu memory pids` to `user@.service` and **not** `io`;
+systemd drops a resource line it cannot honour **without a word** — the generator
+still emits `IOWeight=10`, the container still starts and answers its health check,
+and the cgroup simply has no `io.weight` file. Same family as
+`RequiresMountsFor=` (inert in the user manager) and `ConditionPathIsMountPoint=`
+(fail-dead): the line is accepted, the unit is happy, the setting is dead.
+
+Two system drop-ins make it real, both placed by `ensure_user_io_delegate` in
+`scripts/deploy-remote.sh` (repo copies under `dankserver/host/systemd/`):
+
+| File | Effect |
+|---|---|
+| `user.slice.d/io-accounting.conf` → `[Slice] IOAccounting=yes` | puts `io` into `user.slice/cgroup.subtree_control`; lands immediately, no restart |
+| `user@1000.service.d/io-delegate.conf` → `[Service] DelegateControllers=cpu memory pids io` | the user manager can only request controllers it was delegated; read when it starts, so it lands on **the next reboot** (restarting it kills every rootless container on the host) |
+
+Read the chain in this order — each line is the failure mode of the one after it:
+
+```bash
+cat /sys/fs/cgroup/user.slice/cgroup.subtree_control                    # wants: io
+systemctl show user@1000.service -p DelegateControllers                 # wants: io
+cat /sys/fs/cgroup/user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/app.slice/\<unit\>.service/libpod-payload-*/io.weight
+```
+
+`io` missing from the first → the accounting drop-in is absent. Missing from the
+second → the host has not rebooted since the delegation landed (the deployer prints
+`NOTE: io is not delegated …` for exactly this). No file at the third → that unit
+carries no weight.
+
+Two limits that survive the fix: a container's weight covers **everything** in its
+cgroup, so a library scan and a playback stream share one weight; and the comparison
+is made *inside* `user.slice`, so a rootless unit's weight cannot push it below a
+root unit (`frank-archon`). Shaping that pairing is the weight of `user.slice`
+itself — a fleet decision, not a unit line.
+
 ## 5. Rootless Quadlet log retrieval
 
 Step 0 — establish ownership: `systemctl --user status <name>.service`

serverAppConfigs-docs/Dankserver/Media Metadata View.md

@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@ view really is a mountpoint.
 | Installer | `scripts/media-view.sh` — `plan` / `install` / `verify` / `status` / `reap` |
 | Written by | Jellyfin only (Plex binds read-only); nothing else in the fleet touches it |
 
-Both consumers guard the view with
-`UnitConfigItem=ConditionPathIsMountPoint=/var/lib/media-meta/view`, and
-`scripts/deploy.sh dankserver --service jellyfin|plex` calls `media-view.sh
-install` + `verify` before it restarts either container.
+Both consumers gate their start on the view with
+`ExecStartPre=/home/dank/serverAppConfigs/scripts/wait-for-mount.sh` (it waits
+for the mount, then refuses), and `scripts/deploy.sh dankserver --service
+jellyfin|plex` calls `media-view.sh install` + `verify` before it restarts
+either container.
 
 | Consumer | Bind | Mode | Why that path |
 |---|---|---|---|
@@ -80,11 +81,20 @@ the defaults are the host values above.
   refuse via `lsblk -dno ROTA` if the upper base lives on the array: an overlay
   whose upper is the spinners is the original problem with extra steps, and it
   silently turns every metadata write back into a seek.
-- **Never mount the view over an unmounted lower.** `RequiresMountsFor=/mnt/entropy`
-  plus the container `ConditionPathIsMountPoint` guards: an empty `lowerdir`
-  presents an *empty library* as truth, and a media scan would then clear the
-  database of everything. systemd does not create a mount point, so `install`
-  creates `view` itself; without it the mount simply fails.
+- **A container that binds the array must refuse to start until the mount
+  answers.** Live 2026-10-31: the array's mount and the media containers raced at
+  boot, podman resolved the bind against the pre-mount directory, and both
+  servers came up blind — Jellyfin read an empty library and began
+  `Removing item, Type: "Season"` by the thousand. Two dependencies people reach
+  for do not work here, both measured on that host: `RequiresMountsFor=` in a
+  **rootless** unit is inert (the user manager cannot order against the system's
+  `mnt-entropy.mount`), and `ConditionPathIsMountPoint=` is fail-*dead* — an
+  unmet condition logs `skipped, unmet condition check` with `NRestarts=0` and no
+  start attempt ever follows, so the unit waits for a human. The working guard is
+  `scripts/wait-for-mount.sh` as `ExecStartPre`: it waits out the race, refuses by
+  name after its window, and `Restart=always` carries the unit from there.
+  systemd does not create a mount point, so `install` creates `view` itself;
+  without it the mount simply fails.
 - **Never delete through the view.** A delete writes an overlayfs whiteout
   (`.wh.<name>`) in the upper layer, which hides the array's copy without
   removing it — the file reappears the moment the view is unmounted, and the
@@ -107,7 +117,8 @@ the defaults are the host values above.
 
 | Symptom | Meaning |
 |---|---|
-| `jellyfin.service` / `plex.service` show `ConditionPathIsMountPoint=... was not met` and stay inactive | The view is not mounted. Do not start them anyway: `scripts/media-view.sh install`, then `verify`. |
+| `jellyfin.service` / `plex.service` fail with `refused: still not mounted after 90s: …` | The view or the array is not mounted. Do not start them anyway: `scripts/media-view.sh install`, then `verify`. |
+| Servers answer, library looks empty, Jellyfin logs `Removing item, Type: "Season"` by the thousand | Blind bind — the container started before the mount and bound the pre-mount directory. `podman exec jellyfin ls /data` against `ls /mnt/entropy` is the whole diagnosis; restarting the container re-resolves the bind. |
 | Jellyfin log: `Read-only file system : '/data/Movies/…/movie.nfo'` | The container is binding the raw array, not the view — the quadlet drifted back or the view is gone. `media-view.sh status`. |
 | A folder appears in a media server with artwork/`.nfo` but no video | Ghost metadata from a relayout. `media-view.sh reap`. |
 | `verify` prints `refused: …/view is not a mountpoint` | A plain directory is sitting where the overlay belongs. That is the fail-closed guard working; `install` on the box. |

serverAppConfigs-docs/Infrastructure/Pi-hole.md

@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ Both prerequisites survive the dnsmasq → Pi-hole swap. Do not remove them.
 | Port 53 `bind: permission denied` crash loop after a reboot | sysctl conflict: the value must be 53 at boot, and remember `/etc/sysctl.conf` is applied **after** all of `sysctl.d/`. Redeploy pihole — `deploy_pihole` reinstalls the drop-in, neutralizes conflicting drop-ins, and comments out a stale `/etc/sysctl.conf` line |
 | Single-label name (for example `dankclaw`) answers `127.0.1.1` | The rootless container `/etc/hosts` carries the host entry (`127.0.1.1 <host>`), and FTL serves it. Use the FQDN, or add an `/etc/hosts` entry on the client |
 | Every `franksdank.cloud` name is NXDOMAIN for LAN clients while external names still answer | FTL holds no local records: `getent hosts <name>` on Dankclaw comes back empty → `podman exec pihole pihole restartdns reload` (the 2026-10-19 pitfall under **Records**) |
-| One client gets nothing while every other client is fine | FTL rate-limiting that client: `podman exec pihole grep Rate-limiting /var/log/pihole/FTL.log`. A `10.0.2.x` client address is a pasta container's DNS forwarder, not a machine |
+| One client gets nothing while every other client is fine | FTL rate-limiting that client: `podman exec pihole grep Rate-limiting /var/log/pihole/FTL.log`. A `10.0.2.x` client address is a pasta container's DNS forwarder, not a machine — and **every** rootless container on that host shares the one address, so a single chatty container throttles DNS for all of them (measured 2026-10-31: 8 throttle events in a day, all `10.0.2.100`) |
 
 ## See Also
 

tests/array_mount_gate.bats

@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Seam: a container that binds the entropy array must refuse to start until the
+# thing it binds is actually mounted.
+#
+# Live 2026-10-31, Dankserver: the array's systemd mount STARTED eight seconds
+# before the media containers were created, but a rootless quadlet cannot order
+# itself against a SYSTEM mount unit — `RequiresMountsFor=/mnt/entropy` resolves
+# to nothing in the user manager and is simply inert. So podman resolved the bind
+# against the pre-mount directory (which held one stale subdirectory) and both
+# Jellyfin and Plex came up blind: their library root looked empty, Jellyfin
+# logged thousands of `Removing item, Type: "Season"`, and the array sat at 80 %
+# util doing nothing useful until the host went down. A blind bind is not a
+# cosmetic fault — it is a metadata-deleting machine.
+#
+# The measured fix is `ExecStartPre=<repo>/scripts/wait-for-mount.sh <source>`:
+# it WAITS for the mount and then refuses, so `Restart=always` carries the unit
+# across a slow mount. A `ConditionPathIsMountPoint=` was measured on the same
+# host and is the wrong tool: an unmet condition logs `skipped, unmet condition
+# check` with NRestarts=0 and never a start attempt — the unit stays dead until
+# a human starts it. That is fail-dead, not fail-closed.
+#
+# Tests assert only observable behavior of the gate (exit status and the name it
+# refuses by) and the structural law over the quadlets; never the internals.
+
+load helpers
+
+GATE="$REPO_ROOT/scripts/wait-for-mount.sh"
+
+@test "the gate accepts a path that really is a mountpoint" {
+    run "$GATE" -t 2 /proc
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ] || { printf '%s\n' "$output" >&2; return 1; }
+}
+
+@test "a plain directory is refused, and refused BY NAME" {
+    dir="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/not-a-mount"
+    mkdir "$dir"
+    run "$GATE" -t 1 "$dir"
+    [ "$status" -ne 0 ] || { printf 'accepted a plain directory\n' >&2; return 1; }
+    [[ "$output" == *"$dir"* ]] || { printf 'refusal did not name the path: %s\n' "$output" >&2; return 1; }
+}
+
+@test "a path that does not exist is refused by name" {
+    run "$GATE" -t 1 "$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/does/not/exist"
+    [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/does/not/exist"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "the gate holds the deadline instead of deciding on one look" {
+    # A single check that failed at the wrong instant is the boot race itself:
+    # the mount lands a second later and the unit is dead anyway. So the window
+    # must be spent waiting, and that is observable from outside as elapsed time.
+    dir="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/never"
+    mkdir "$dir"
+    start=$SECONDS
+    run "$GATE" -t 4 "$dir"
+    elapsed=$((SECONDS - start))
+    [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+    [ "$elapsed" -ge 4 ] || { printf 'gave up after %ss, window was 4s\n' "$elapsed" >&2; return 1; }
+}
+
+@test "the gate accepts a mount that arrives during its window" {
+    dir="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/later"
+    mkdir "$dir"
+    if ! mount --bind /proc "$dir" 2>/dev/null; then
+        skip "creating a mount needs privileges this box does not grant"
+    fi
+    run "$GATE" -t 4 "$dir"
+    umount "$dir" 2>/dev/null || sudo -n umount "$dir" 2>/dev/null || true
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ] || { printf 'gate did not wait for a mount that arrived: %s\n' "$output" >&2; return 1; }
+}
+
+@test "no unit without the gate binds the array or the metadata view" {
+    bad=""
+    while IFS= read -r unit; do
+        sources=$(sed -n 's/^Volume=\([^:]*\):.*/\1/p' "$unit" \
+            | grep -E '^(/mnt/entropy|/var/lib/media-meta/view)$' | sort -u)
+        [ -n "$sources" ] || continue
+        for src in $sources; do
+            grep -q "ExecStartPre=.*wait-for-mount.sh.* $src\b" "$unit" \
+                || bad="$bad$unit binds $src with no start gate"$'\n'
+        done
+    done < <(find "$REPO_ROOT"/dankserver "$REPO_ROOT"/dankclaw "$REPO_ROOT"/frankbook-pro \
+                 -path '*/quadlet/*.container' -not -path '*.AGENTTRASH*')
+    [ -z "$bad" ] || { printf 'blind binds:\n%s' "$bad" >&2; return 1; }
+}
+
+@test "no gated unit keeps the fail-dead ConditionPathIsMountPoint" {
+    bad=""
+    while IFS= read -r unit; do
+        grep -q "wait-for-mount.sh" "$unit" || continue
+        grep -q "ConditionPathIsMountPoint" "$unit" \
+            && bad="$bad$unit: a gate and an unmet-condition skip cannot coexist"$'\n'
+    done < <(find "$REPO_ROOT"/dankserver "$REPO_ROOT"/dankclaw "$REPO_ROOT"/frankbook-pro \
+                 -path '*/quadlet/*.container' -not -path '*.AGENTTRASH*')
+    [ -z "$bad" ] || { printf 'fail-dead conditions:\n%s' "$bad" >&2; return 1; }
+}

tests/dankserver_quadlet.bats

@@ -106,3 +106,24 @@ load helpers
     # env file, not an Environment= line.
     ! grep -qE '^Environment=CUSTOM_(USER|PASSWORD)=' "$unit" || return 1
 }
+
+@test "a quadlet that asks for an I/O share ships the host permission that makes it real" {
+    # IOWeight= is silently inert unless the system manager both enables io for
+    # user.slice and delegates it to the user manager: systemd drops a resource
+    # line it cannot honour without a word and the container still starts healthy.
+    # So an in-repo weight is only honest together with both drop-ins AND with a
+    # deployer that places them. Measured 2026-10-31; verification chain in
+    # Architecture/Quadlet Lifecycle 4b.
+    if grep -lq '^IOWeight=' "$REPO_ROOT"/dankserver/*/quadlet/*.container; then
+        asked=1
+    else
+        skip "no dankserver quadlet asks for an I/O share"
+    fi
+    grep -q '^IOAccounting=yes$' \
+        "$REPO_ROOT/dankserver/host/systemd/user.slice.d/io-accounting.conf" || return 1
+    grep -q '^DelegateControllers=.* io' \
+        "$REPO_ROOT/dankserver/host/systemd/user@1000.service.d/io-delegate.conf" || return 1
+    for f in user.slice.d/io-accounting.conf 'user@1000.service.d/io-delegate.conf'; do
+        grep -q "dankserver/host/systemd/$f" "$REPO_ROOT/scripts/deploy-remote.sh" || return 1
+    done
+}

tests/media_overlay.bats

@@ -61,7 +61,10 @@ UNIT="$REPO_ROOT/dankserver/host/systemd/media-meta-view.mount"
 @test "both media servers bind the view and refuse to start without it" {
     for unit in "$JELLY" "$PLEX"; do
         grep -q "^Volume=$MOUNT:" "$unit" || return 1
-        grep -q "^UnitConfigItem=ConditionPathIsMountPoint=$MOUNT$" "$unit" || return 1
+        # The refusal is a start GATE, not a Condition: measured on the host, a
+        # unit whose Condition goes unmet is skipped forever (NRestarts=0, no
+        # start attempt) — fail-dead. The gate waits, then refuses.
+        grep -q "^ExecStartPre=.*wait-for-mount.sh .*$MOUNT" "$unit" || return 1
         # The raw array must no longer be a container source: that bind is what
         # made sidecar sharing impossible (read-only) and metadata slow (seeks).
         ! grep -q '^Volume=/mnt/entropy' "$unit"