docs(website): record the account-deletion answers (AD4-AD9)

The org lead answered the plan's six questions on 2026-10-29:
- delete at once, no grace period
- what a member wrote stays, and members see every snapshot of a
  deleted account as "[deleted player]"
- staff keep the name and the IP for moderation, so the stored rows are
  untouched and the rule is about who sees what (displayAuthor)
- the password is always the proof; SSO sits on top of a real account
- a UO game account stays on the shard; no protocol change
- a deleted staff username is never available again (reserved_usernames)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01E14m6SuuY6i1vASFeGDBeY

website/ACCOUNT_DELETION.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Account deletion — a member deletes their own account, on the website and in the app
 
-**Status:** plan of record, 2026-10-29. Nothing built yet. §5 holds the questions for the org lead;
-each phase in §6 stops for the org lead before the next one starts.
+**Status:** plan of record, 2026-10-29, with every question answered (AD4-AD9). Nothing built
+yet. Each phase in §6 stops for the org lead before the next one starts.
 
 **Why now.** Google Play's Data safety form asks whether the app lets people create an account, and
 an app that does must let them delete it, both **in the app** and at a **web address** given to Play
@@ -15,13 +15,14 @@ hide (`USER_SAFETY.md`), so it takes the next `MODULE_API` minor.
 
 | Where | What they see | What happens |
 |---|---|---|
-| Website, *Account* (`PlayerAccount.jsx`) | a *Delete my account* section at the bottom: what goes, what stays (§4.1), and a confirm step | the account is deleted (or scheduled, §5 Q1), the member is signed out everywhere, and the site says so |
+| Website, *Account* (`PlayerAccount.jsx`) | a *Delete my account* section at the bottom: what goes, what stays (§4.1), and a confirm step | the account is deleted at once (AD4), the member is signed out everywhere, and the site says so |
 | App, *Account* (`AccountScreen.kt`) | the same section and the same confirm step | the same, and the app clears what it holds on the phone, as a sign-out does |
 | runicgateway.com `/delete-account/` | how to do it on the website or in the app, what is deleted and what is kept, and who to ask when you cannot sign in | nothing; it is the page whose address Play is given (AD2) |
 
 The confirm step asks for the account's password, and for a two-factor code when the account has
-two-factor sign-in on. An account with neither is §5 Q4. It also asks the member to type their
-username, so a mis-tap on a phone cannot delete an account.
+two-factor sign-in on. It also asks the member to type their username, so a mis-tap on a phone
+cannot delete an account. Signing in with Google, Discord or Steam is a convenience on top of an
+account that already has its own password (AD7), so the password is always the proof.
 
 Every member can delete themself, staff included. The one refusal is the **last admin**, as the
 admin route already refuses. Then a deployment would be left with no one who can run it.
@@ -37,6 +38,26 @@ admin route already refuses. Then a deployment would be left with no one who can
 - **AD3 — Before report, block and hide.** It takes `MODULE_API` **1.20.0**, and
   `USER_SAFETY.md`'s `reportTargets` moves to 1.21.0.
 
+The org lead's answers to the six questions in §5, the same day:
+
+- **AD4 — Delete now** (Q1). There is no grace period. The typed username and the password are
+  the safeguard.
+- **AD5 — What they wrote stays, attributed to "[deleted player]"** (Q2). For members, every
+  username snapshot of a deleted account reads "[deleted player]": their threads, posts and
+  uploads, and the records in gap 2. That label replaces today's "[deleted account]".
+- **AD6 — Staff keep the name and the IP** (Q3). The snapshots and the activity log's IP
+  addresses stay in the database, and the staff views keep showing them, marked as a deleted
+  account, for moderation. So AD5 is a rule about what members see, not a change to the stored
+  rows.
+- **AD7 — The password is the proof** (Q4). SSO is a convenience. A member must already have a
+  proper account before they can link a sign-in provider, so every account has its own password,
+  and the confirm step always asks for it. An account that somehow has no password is told to set
+  one first, on the same Account page.
+- **AD8 — A UO game account stays on the shard** (Q5). Only the link goes. The shard's staff
+  handle the shard account like any other. There is no protocol change.
+- **AD9 — A deleted staff account's username is never available again** (Q6). It can never be
+  registered, or taken by a username change. A player's username is free at once.
+
 ## 3. What exists today (read 2026-10-29, website `main` 222bcb0)
 
 - **The admin route.** `DELETE /api/v1/admin/users/:id` refuses your own account and the last admin,
@@ -79,13 +100,15 @@ admin route already refuses. Then a deployment would be left with no one who can
      - `team_leader_overrides.actor_username`
      - `team_moderation_requests.requested_username` and `decided_username`
 3. **The activity log keeps IP addresses.** Rows for the deleted member keep `ip`, and `detail`
-   can carry a username, with only `user_id` cleared (§5 Q3).
+   can carry a username, with only `user_id` cleared. They stay, for staff (AD6).
 4. **A module cannot learn that a user was deleted.** If a module keeps user data without a
    foreign key, or has a side effect in the game, it has no hook. The Module API has
    `onIdentityLinked`, but nothing for deletion.
 5. **A game account the app created stays on the game server.** For UO the link cascades, but the
-   shard account and its characters remain (§5 Q5).
+   shard account and its characters remain, which is intended (AD8).
 6. The demo's four accounts (`demo/mode.js`) must not be deletable.
+7. **Nothing stops a deleted name being reused.** Registration and username changes only check
+   the live `users` table (AD9).
 
 ## 4. Design
 
@@ -96,25 +119,27 @@ admin route already refuses. Then a deployment would be left with no one who can
   by staff and a deletion by the member do the same thing.
 - **The member's route.** `DELETE /api/v1/auth/me/account`, behind `requireAuth` and
   `accountChangeLimiter`.
-  - Body: `{ username, password?, code?, recoveryCode? }`.
+  - Body: `{ username, password, code?, recoveryCode? }`.
   - The typed `username` must match the account, ignoring case.
-  - The password is checked when the account has one.
+  - The password is always checked (AD7).
   - A two-factor code or a recovery code is checked when two-factor sign-in is on.
   - Refusals:
     - 400 for a username that doesn't match
     - 401 for a wrong password or code
+    - 409 `password_required` for an account with no password: the screen points at the
+      Account page's set-a-password section, which already exists for that case
     - 409 for the last admin
     - the demo's own refusal for a demo account (`demo/mode.js`, the same lock other breaking
       settings use)
   - `#swagger.*` annotations; the spec is regenerated.
 - **The procedure, in order:**
   1. **Before the delete**, read what is needed afterwards: the email address (for the notice
-     below) and the linked game ids.
+     below), the username and the role.
   2. **In one transaction:**
-     - clear the "what they wrote" snapshots (gap 2), so their threads, posts and uploads show
-       "[deleted account]"; §5 Q2 decides whether the content itself stays
-     - apply §5 Q3's answer to the "records" snapshots and to their activity-log rows
-     - delete the `users` row, so the foreign keys do the rest
+     - when the role is staff (anything but `player`), add the username to a new
+       `reserved_usernames` table (AD9)
+     - delete the `users` row, so the foreign keys do the rest. The snapshot columns, the
+       content and the activity log are **not** touched (AD5, AD6).
   3. **After commit**, fire-and-forget, each in its own `try`:
      - every module's `onUserDeleted` hook (below)
      - `teams.reconcile({ reason: 'account deleted' })`
@@ -126,6 +151,22 @@ admin route already refuses. Then a deployment would be left with no one who can
   - **Nothing can stop a deletion once it starts.** A module hook that throws is logged and the
     deletion still stands, because Play requires the request to be honoured. That is also why the
     hook runs after the commit rather than before it.
+- **Who sees the name (AD5, AD6).** A snapshot whose id column is now NULL belongs to a deleted
+  account; nothing else clears those ids. Rendering follows the viewer:
+  - **Members**, Team leaders included, and signed-out visitors see `[deleted player]`. That
+    covers forum threads, posts and uploads, and any record a member can read. The constant in
+    `teamForum.model.js` and `contentReports.model.js` changes from `[deleted account]`, and the
+    "id NULL" case now wins over a present snapshot.
+  - **Staff** (admin, editor, moderator) see the stored username with a *deleted account*
+    marker, in the Reports queue, the forum's moderation views, the user and activity screens,
+    and Team moderation requests. The activity log keeps its IP addresses.
+  - The rule lives in one helper, `displayAuthor(row, viewer)`, which every model that renders a
+    snapshot uses, and its tests cover each table in gap 2.
+- **`reserved_usernames`** (AD9) holds `username_norm` (the primary key, lowercased), `reason`
+  (`deleted_staff`) and `reserved_at`. Registration, an invite's acceptance, an admin creating an
+  account, and a username change all refuse a reserved name, with the same message as a taken
+  one. There is no release path, because the org lead said "completely unavailable". A player's
+  username is not added and is free at once.
 - **`MODULE_API` 1.20.0: `api.onUserDeleted(async ({ userId, deletedBy }) => {})`**, where
   `deletedBy` is `'self' | 'staff'`.
   - It runs after the row is gone, so a module that keeps data without a foreign key cleans it
@@ -139,12 +180,17 @@ admin route already refuses. Then a deployment would be left with no one who can
     session, trusted device and push registration; linked Google, Discord, OIDC and Steam sign-ins;
     game-account links and, in Rust, the permissions and groups the site gave those Steam ids;
     notification settings and the inbox.
-  - **Stays, without your name:** what you wrote where others read it (§5 Q2), shown as
-    "[deleted account]"; reports you filed and appeals you made, as moderation records; event
-    results, with the score kept and the name removed; the delivery log's hashes and the
-    suppression list (`collection.mjs` already says so).
-  - **Stays for security:** §5 Q3's answer.
-- **Docs:** `BACKEND_DESIGN.md` (route, procedure, the table above), `MODULE_API.md`, OpenAPI.
+  - **Stays, shown to other members as "[deleted player]":** what you wrote where others read it
+    (AD5), and reports you filed and appeals you made, as moderation records.
+  - **Stays, and staff can still see who it was:** the same records with your username, and the
+    activity log with its IP addresses, for moderation (AD6). Kept until the operator removes
+    them.
+  - **Stays, detached:** event results (the score and the in-game name, no site account), the
+    delivery log's hashes and the suppression list (`collection.mjs` already says so).
+  - **If you were staff:** your username can never be used again (AD9).
+- **Docs:** `BACKEND_DESIGN.md` (the route, the procedure, `reserved_usernames`, the
+  display rule, the list above), `TEAMS.md` (the forum's deleted-author rule), `MODULE_API.md`,
+  OpenAPI.
 
 ### 4.2 Website client
 
@@ -176,9 +222,9 @@ admin route already refuses. Then a deployment would be left with no one who can
   - The links and grants themselves already cascade.
   - Core-ref pin.
 - **Module-uo:**
-  - `shard_account_links` already cascades.
-  - `onUserDeleted` does whatever §5 Q5 decides for the shard account.
-  - Core-ref pin.
+  - `shard_account_links` already cascades, and the shard account stays (AD8), so the module
+    registers no hook.
+  - Core-ref pin only, if its `coreApi` range needs it.
 - **Integration Kit:** the re-pin, and a paragraph in the module chapter: what `onUserDeleted` is
   for, and that a module keeping user data with no foreign key must use it.
 
@@ -187,7 +233,8 @@ admin route already refuses. Then a deployment would be left with no one who can
 - **`/delete-account/`**, the page Play is given (AD2). It covers:
   - the app's name and ours
   - the steps on the website and in the app
-  - what is deleted and what is kept, and for how long
+  - what is deleted and what is kept, and for how long: the moderation records that stay, and
+    that other members see "[deleted player]"
   - that we hold no account, because each community runs its own site
   - what to do if you cannot sign in: ask that community's operator, who can delete the account
     from the admin panel
@@ -195,65 +242,25 @@ admin route already refuses. Then a deployment would be left with no one who can
   `/privacy` and the page agree. `PLAY_DATA_SAFETY.md`'s account-deletion bullet then names the URL
   and answers "yes" to "can users request deletion".
 
-## 5. Questions for the org lead
+## 5. The questions, as they were asked and answered (org lead, 2026-10-29)
 
-- **Q1 — Delete now, or after a grace period?**
-  - *Example:* a player taps *Delete* at 2 a.m. after a bad raid.
-  - **Now:** the account is gone, and the username is free to register by morning.
-  - **Grace period (14 days):** the account is locked at once and signs them out everywhere.
-    Signing in during the 14 days cancels the deletion, and a nightly sweep deletes it when the
-    period ends. That needs a `pending_deletion` status and a sweep.
-  - *Recommended: now.* It is simpler, it is what the confirm step is for, and Play accepts either.
-- **Q2 — What happens to what they wrote?**
-  - *Example:* a member wrote a forum guide with 40 replies under it.
-  - **Keep it, shown as "[deleted account]":** the thread still reads, with no name on it.
-  - **Delete their posts and uploads:** the guide is gone, and the replies answer nothing.
-  - *Recommended: keep it, anonymous.* Most forums work this way, and the screens say so before
-    the member confirms.
-- **Q3 — Records of what was done: the activity log's IP addresses, and the moderation
-  snapshots.**
-  - *Example:* a banned player deletes their account and comes back as someone new. Or a Team
-    leader who hid a post deletes their account, and staff later ask who hid it.
-  - **Keep them as they are:** moderators can still match the old IPs, and a record still says
-    who filed the report or hid the post. Those are security and moderation records, and the
-    privacy notes say so.
-  - **Clear them:** clear `ip` and the username in `detail` in the activity log, and the
-    "records" snapshots in gap 2. Nothing can be matched any more, and those records then read
-    "[deleted account]".
-  - *Recommended: keep them,* as security and moderation records kept until the operator removes
-    them, which is what `collection.mjs` already says about the audit log.
-- **Q4 — How does an account with no password confirm?**
-  - *Example:* a player who only ever signs in with Discord, with no two-factor sign-in.
-  - **Typing the username on a signed-in session is enough:** simple, but a person holding their
-    unlocked phone can do it.
-  - **Sign in with the provider again first** (within the last 10 minutes): safer, but it needs a
-    re-authentication flow on the web and in the app.
-  - *Recommended: sign in again,* reusing the SSO flow with a `reauth` purpose.
-- **Q5 — The UO game account the app can create.**
-  - *Example:* a player made `Thorne` on the shard from the app and has three characters on it.
-  - **Leave it on the shard:** the link goes, and the shard account and characters stay. The
-    shard's staff deal with it as they would any account.
-  - **Offer to delete it too:** the confirm step adds "Also delete game account Thorne and its
-    characters". That needs a new bridge command, `account.delete`, and a protocol bump in
-    servuo-plugins, link and module-uo.
-  - *Recommended: leave it.* Play's rule concerns the account a user signs in to the app with,
-    which is the site account, and a shard account belongs to the shard. If Play's review asks,
-    the second option can follow.
-- **Q6 — Can someone else take the username straight away?**
-  - *Example:* a moderator called `Ravenna` deletes their account, and the next day someone
-    registers `Ravenna` and messages players as staff.
-  - **Free at once:** simple.
-  - **Reserved for 90 days:** a small `reserved_usernames` table that registration and username
-    changes check.
-  - *Recommended: reserve for 90 days*, for staff accounts only.
+| | Asked, with the example given | Answer |
+|---|---|---|
+| Q1 | Delete now, or lock for 14 days and let a sign-in cancel it? (a player taps *Delete* at 2 a.m. after a bad raid) | **Delete now** (AD4) |
+| Q2 | Keep what they wrote, anonymously, or delete it? (a forum guide with 40 replies) | **Keep it; every username snapshot reads "[deleted player]"** (AD5) |
+| Q3 | Keep or clear the activity log's IPs and the moderation snapshots? (a banned player returns under a new name) | **Keep the name and the IP on the admin side, for moderation** (AD6) |
+| Q4 | How does an account with no password confirm? (a Discord-only player) | **Every account already has a password; SSO is a convenience on top of a proper account** (AD7) |
+| Q5 | What happens to a UO game account the app created? (`Thorne`, with three characters) | **Leave it on the shard** (AD8) |
+| Q6 | Can a deleted username be taken at once? (a moderator `Ravenna` impersonated the next day) | **Staff names are completely unavailable** (AD9) |
 
 ## 6. Build order
 
-1. **This plan** (docs), with §5's answers.
+1. **This plan** (docs), with the answers (AD4-AD9).
 2. **Core** (`website`): §4.1 and §4.2, `MODULE_API` 1.20.0, tests (the service's procedure, the
-   route's refusals, the demo lock, a module hook that throws), OpenAPI, `BACKEND_DESIGN.md`,
-   `MODULE_API.md`. One PR.
-3. **Module-Rust** (`edge`) and **Module-uo**: §4.4 plus their core-ref pins, one PR each.
+   route's refusals, the demo lock, a module hook that throws, `displayAuthor` per table, a
+   reserved staff name), OpenAPI, `BACKEND_DESIGN.md`, `TEAMS.md`, `MODULE_API.md`. One PR.
+3. **Module-Rust** (`edge`): §4.4's hook plus its core-ref pin. One PR. **Module-uo** gets a
+   pin only if its `coreApi` range needs one.
    **Integration Kit**: the re-pin and the paragraph, one PR.
 4. **Android** (`edge`): §4.3. One PR.
 5. **runicgateway.com**: §4.5, plus `PLAY_DATA_SAFETY.md` regenerated. One PR.
@@ -261,7 +268,9 @@ admin route already refuses. Then a deployment would be left with no one who can
    - delete on the website, and in the app on the emulator
    - the other device's session dies on its next request
    - a Rust-linked account's grants leave the rig on the next sync
-   - a forum post shows "[deleted account]"
+   - a forum post shows "[deleted player]" to a member and the old username, marked deleted, to
+     staff
+   - the deleted staff username is refused at registration and at a username change
    - the demo refuses
    - the last admin is refused
 7. Then `USER_SAFETY.md` (report, block and hide, now 1.21.0), then `android/PLAN.md` M8's