diff --git a/server/src/modules/lifecycle.js b/server/src/modules/lifecycle.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6f837a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/modules/lifecycle.js
@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+// ── Module lifecycle dispatch ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Phase 2, PR 5 of docs/website/MODULE_SYSTEM.md §2.7. Normative contract:
+// docs/website/MODULE_API.md §2.5 (the hooks and when they run) and §4.4
+// (failure is a state), plus MODULE_SYSTEM.md §2.4 (what a boot does to
+// `installed_modules`).
+//
+// This is the database half of the loader, and it is a separate file for the
+// same reason modules/schema.js is: `scripts/routeManifest.js` and
+// `swagger/swagger.js` both require app.js with the pool pointed at a dead port,
+// so loader.js may not reach the database. Everything here runs from server.js,
+// after ensureSchema() has proved the database is up.
+//
+// The two halves meet at exactly one place — `loader.setState()` — so the
+// in-memory record that the §4.5 dispatch guard reads and the row the admin
+// panel reads are moved together and cannot disagree.
+//
+// Two properties this file exists to keep:
+//
+//   1. **A module's boot failure costs that module and nothing else** (§4.4).
+//      Its routes stay mounted and answer 503; the site comes up; the next
+//      module boots as if nothing happened.
+//   2. **The row is a record of what happened, never the source of truth for
+//      what is mounted** (§2.4). Nothing here mounts, unmounts or re-scans. It
+//      reads the outcome of a scan that already happened and writes it down.
+
+const log = require('../utils/logger')('modules')
+
+// §2.5: shutdown races the process being killed, so a module that will not let
+// go is logged and skipped rather than allowed to hang the exit. `onBoot` has no
+// such budget on purpose — it delays the listener binding, which is the feature.
+const SHUTDOWN_BUDGET_MS = 5000
+
+/**
+ * Run one database call for one module without letting it become everyone's
+ * failure. Returns null on failure, having logged it.
+ *
+ * The boot path is the whole reason this exists. A row that will not update is
+ * bad — the admin panel shows the wrong thing — but it is strictly less bad than
+ * a site that will not start, and it must not stop the modules after it from
+ * booting.
+ */
+async function safe(what, fn) {
+  try {
+    return await fn()
+  } catch (err) {
+    log.error(`module bookkeeping failed: ${what}`, { error: err.message })
+    return null
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Reconcile `installed_modules` with what the loader found, then run every
+ * surviving module's `onBoot`.
+ *
+ * Called once from server.js, after `ensureSchema()` (so a module's own tables
+ * exist) and `seedDefaults()`, and **before the HTTP listener binds** — a module
+ * that must not serve traffic until it has warmed a cache gets that for free
+ * (§2.5).
+ *
+ * The order of the four steps is the whole design:
+ *
+ *   1. `beginBoot()` clears the last boot's outcomes, so what is on display
+ *      afterwards is what THIS boot did. `disabled` rows are left alone: that is
+ *      an operator decision, not an outcome (§2.4).
+ *   2. Every module on the volume gets a row, written with null provenance if it
+ *      does not have one — a directory placed on the volume by hand is a
+ *      supported install (§2.4/§2.5), and without a row it could never be
+ *      disabled or shown as failed.
+ *   3. Rows with no directory are marked failed, because step 1 has just reset
+ *      them to `enabled` and a row claiming to be enabled for a module that is
+ *      not there is the one state that is simply untrue. (A plain uninstall
+ *      leaves `disabled`, which step 1 never touches, so this only catches a
+ *      directory deleted by hand.)
+ *   4. The outcome each module already carries — disabled by the operator,
+ *      failed during load or schema replay, or ready — is written down, and only
+ *      then is `onBoot` dispatched.
+ *
+ * Never throws. @param {object} [deps] injection seam for tests.
+ */
+async function boot({ modules, model } = {}) {
+  /* eslint-disable global-require */
+  const loader = modules || require('./loader')
+  const rows = model || require('../model/modules/modules.model')
+  /* eslint-enable global-require */
+
+  // Not an error, and the same guard replayFragments carries: a process that
+  // never required app.js has no scan to reconcile against, and writing rows
+  // from an empty list would mark every installed module as missing.
+  if (!loader.isLoaded()) {
+    log.info('no module scan in this process — skipping module boot')
+    return
+  }
+
+  const scanned = loader.list()
+
+  await safe('resetting last boot\'s outcomes', () => rows.beginBoot())
+
+  for (const m of scanned) {
+    await safe(`recording module "${m.id}"`, () => rows.recordInstalled({
+      id: m.id,
+      name: m.name,
+      version: m.version,
+      // Null provenance is what a hand-placed directory looks like. An install
+      // performed through the admin panel (§2.5, a later phase) writes the row
+      // with its source and hash first; this refresh deliberately does not
+      // overwrite either, because recordInstalled leaves what it is not given.
+    }))
+  }
+
+  const stored = (await safe('reading module rows', () => rows.list())) || []
+  const onVolume = new Set(scanned.map((m) => m.id))
+
+  for (const row of stored) {
+    if (onVolume.has(row.id) || row.state === 'disabled') continue
+    await safe(`marking module "${row.id}" missing`, () => rows.markStartupFailed(row.id, {
+      stage: 'require',
+      reason: 'module directory not present on the volume',
+    }))
+  }
+
+  const disabled = new Set(stored.filter((r) => r.state === 'disabled').map((r) => r.id))
+
+  for (const m of scanned) {
+    // The operator's switch wins over everything, including a failure. Its
+    // routes 404 from here on (§4.5 — the leg that was unreachable until this
+    // PR), it is not booted, and its failure is not re-recorded: overwriting a
+    // deliberate `disabled` with an outcome would silently re-enable it on the
+    // next boot.
+    if (disabled.has(m.id)) {
+      loader.setState(m.id, 'disabled')
+      continue
+    }
+    if (m.state === 'startup_failed') {
+      // Already failed in load() or the schema replay — both of which ran before
+      // the database was available to write it down. This is where it lands.
+      await safe(`recording failure for "${m.id}"`, () => rows.markStartupFailed(m.id, {
+        stage: m.stage,
+        reason: m.reason,
+      }))
+    }
+  }
+
+  for (const { id, hook, ctx } of loader.bootable()) {
+    try {
+      // Awaited without a timeout, deliberately (§2.5): a slow onBoot delays the
+      // listener, which is the contract's promise to a module that must warm up
+      // before it serves. Core's own boot steps are awaited the same way.
+      if (hook) await hook(ctx)
+      loader.setState(id, 'started')
+      await safe(`marking module "${id}" started`, () => rows.markStarted(id))
+      log.info(`module "${id}" started`)
+    } catch (err) {
+      // §4.4's second column: the routes are already mounted, so they stay
+      // mounted and answer 503. A module that failed to warm up serving
+      // half-initialised data is worse than one that says it is down.
+      loader.setState(id, 'startup_failed', { stage: 'boot', reason: err.message })
+      await safe(`recording boot failure for "${id}"`, () => rows.markStartupFailed(id, {
+        stage: 'boot',
+        reason: err.message,
+      }))
+      log.error(`module "${id}" onBoot failed — its routes will answer 503`, {
+        reason: err.message,
+      })
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/** Reject if `fn`'s promise has not settled within `ms`. */
+function withBudget(fn, ms) {
+  let timer
+  const budget = new Promise((_, reject) => {
+    timer = setTimeout(() => reject(new Error(`onShutdown exceeded its ${ms}ms budget`)), ms)
+  })
+  return Promise.race([Promise.resolve().then(fn), budget]).finally(() => clearTimeout(timer))
+}
+
+/**
+ * Run every started module's `onShutdown`, in reverse registration order.
+ *
+ * Called from server.js's signal handler before anything core owns is closed, so
+ * a module still has a working database pool and push dispatcher to flush
+ * through. Reverse order is the mirror of boot order: a module that booted after
+ * another may be holding something the earlier one handed it.
+ *
+ * Never throws, and never hangs: each hook gets `SHUTDOWN_BUDGET_MS`, after
+ * which it is logged and abandoned. Abandoned, not cancelled — nothing can stop
+ * a promise that is still running — but the process is exiting anyway, and the
+ * alternative is a shard host where `systemctl stop` hangs until SIGKILL.
+ */
+async function shutdown({ modules, budgetMs = SHUTDOWN_BUDGET_MS } = {}) {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line global-require
+  const loader = modules || require('./loader')
+  if (!loader.isLoaded()) return
+
+  for (const { id, hook } of loader.shutdownHooks()) {
+    try {
+      await withBudget(hook, budgetMs)
+      log.info(`module "${id}" shut down`)
+    } catch (err) {
+      log.warn(`module "${id}" onShutdown failed or timed out — continuing`, {
+        error: err.message,
+      })
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = { boot, shutdown, SHUTDOWN_BUDGET_MS }
diff --git a/server/src/modules/loader.js b/server/src/modules/loader.js
index d223959..bbc3aa1 100644
--- a/server/src/modules/loader.js
+++ b/server/src/modules/loader.js
@@ -18,15 +18,19 @@
 // boot (§4.4).
 //
 // What is deliberately NOT here yet, each landing with the PR that first calls
-// it (§2.7): the three de-entanglement registries (PR 4), boot/shutdown hook
-// dispatch and the `installed_modules` reconcile (PR 5), GET
-// /api/v1/public/modules and the client chunk's static mount (PRs 6-7). Until
-// PR 5 the state a module carries is in memory only.
+// it (§2.7): GET /api/v1/public/modules and the client chunk's static mount
+// (PRs 6-7).
 //
 // PR 3 added the fragment half of the schema story: this file VALIDATES a
 // fragment (statement by statement, at load time, before anything is mounted)
 // and publishes it through `fragments()`. Replaying it needs a database, so it
 // belongs to modules/schema.js, which utils/db.js calls after core's schema.
+//
+// PR 5 added the lifecycle hooks a module registers here (`onBoot`/`onShutdown`)
+// and the failure STAGE carried beside every reason. Dispatching those hooks and
+// reconciling `installed_modules` need a database, so they live in
+// modules/lifecycle.js for the same reason schema.js is a separate file: this one
+// stays require-able against a dead pool.
 
 const fs = require('fs')
 const path = require('path')
@@ -145,11 +149,10 @@ function buildApi(record) {
     if (record.called.has(name)) throw new Error(`${name}() called twice`)
     record.called.add(name)
   }
-  // PR 5 brings the boot hooks. They throw rather than no-op: an accepting stub
-  // would let a module believe it had registered something and fail silently at
-  // the far end.
-  const notYet = (name, pr) => () => {
-    throw new Error(`${name}: not available until phase 2 PR ${pr}`)
+  const hook = (name) => (fn) => {
+    once(name)
+    if (typeof fn !== 'function') throw new Error(`${name}: expected a function`)
+    record.hooks[name] = fn
   }
   return {
     registerRoutes(mounts) {
@@ -180,13 +183,34 @@ function buildApi(record) {
       record.staged.registerNotificationStreams(streams)
     },
     registerAnnounceLeg: record.staged.registerAnnounceLeg,
-    onBoot: notYet('onBoot', 5),
-    onShutdown: notYet('onShutdown', 5),
+    // The two lifecycle hooks (§2.5). Registered here, dispatched from
+    // lifecycle.js — this file runs with no database and the hooks run with one.
+    // Both are optional: a module with no warm-up and nothing to close simply
+    // never calls them.
+    onBoot: hook('onBoot'),
+    onShutdown: hook('onShutdown'),
   }
 }
 
 // ── Validation ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
+/**
+ * Throw with the §4.3 step that failed attached.
+ *
+ * `installed_modules.failure_stage` exists so the admin panel can say *where* a
+ * module broke and not only what the message was, and the model enumerates the
+ * eight stages (`FAILURE_STAGES`). The steps that share one function — a
+ * manifest read that also checks `coreApi`, the mounts and the slots — cannot be
+ * told apart by position in load(), so they carry their own label; everything
+ * else is inferred from how far load() had got. An untagged error is recorded
+ * against the step that was running, never guessed at.
+ */
+function fail(stage, message) {
+  const err = new Error(message)
+  err.stage = stage
+  throw err
+}
+
 // Table names a module may create despite not carrying its own id as a prefix.
 //
 // module-uo's twenty-seven tables predate the module system by two years, and
@@ -305,42 +329,42 @@ function readManifest(dir, id, tierRouters) {
   for (const key of Object.keys(manifest)) {
     // Rejected, not ignored: a typo'd key must be a loud failure rather than a
     // silently inert setting the operator believes they configured.
-    if (!MANIFEST_KEYS.has(key)) throw new Error(`unknown key "${key}" in module.json`)
+    if (!MANIFEST_KEYS.has(key)) fail('manifest', `unknown key "${key}" in module.json`)
   }
-  if (!ID.test(manifest.id || '')) throw new Error(`invalid id "${manifest.id}"`)
-  if (manifest.id !== id) throw new Error(`id "${manifest.id}" does not match directory "${id}"`)
-  if (!manifest.version) throw new Error('missing version')
-  if (!manifest.coreApi) throw new Error('missing coreApi')
+  if (!ID.test(manifest.id || '')) fail('manifest', `invalid id "${manifest.id}"`)
+  if (manifest.id !== id) fail('manifest', `id "${manifest.id}" does not match directory "${id}"`)
+  if (!manifest.version) fail('manifest', 'missing version')
+  if (!manifest.coreApi) fail('core_api', 'missing coreApi')
   if (!semver.satisfies(MODULE_API_VERSION, manifest.coreApi)) {
-    throw new Error(`needs core API ${manifest.coreApi}, this core is ${MODULE_API_VERSION}`)
+    fail('core_api', `needs core API ${manifest.coreApi}, this core is ${MODULE_API_VERSION}`)
   }
 
   for (const [tier, prefixes] of Object.entries(manifest.mounts || {})) {
-    if (!TIERS.includes(tier)) throw new Error(`unknown tier "${tier}" in mounts`)
+    if (!TIERS.includes(tier)) fail('mounts', `unknown tier "${tier}" in mounts`)
     for (const prefix of prefixes) {
-      if (!PREFIX.test(prefix)) throw new Error(`bad prefix "${prefix}" in mounts.${tier}`)
+      if (!PREFIX.test(prefix)) fail('mounts', `bad prefix "${prefix}" in mounts.${tier}`)
       if (ownedByCore(tierRouters[tier], prefix)) {
-        throw new Error(`prefix ${tier}${prefix} is owned by core`)
+        fail('mounts', `prefix ${tier}${prefix} is owned by core`)
       }
       for (const other of modules.values()) {
         if ((other.manifest.mounts?.[tier] || []).includes(prefix)) {
-          throw new Error(`prefix ${tier}${prefix} already registered by module "${other.id}"`)
+          fail('mounts', `prefix ${tier}${prefix} already registered by module "${other.id}"`)
         }
       }
     }
   }
 
   for (const slot of manifest.extensions || []) {
-    if (!registries.hasSlot(slot)) throw new Error(`unknown extension slot "${slot}"`)
+    if (!registries.hasSlot(slot)) fail('extensions', `unknown extension slot "${slot}"`)
   }
 
   if (manifest.schema && !manifest.purge) {
     // A module that can create tables and cannot drop them leaves an operator
     // with orphaned data and no supported way to remove it.
-    throw new Error('declares schema but no purge')
+    fail('schema', 'declares schema but no purge')
   }
   if (manifest.purge && !fs.existsSync(path.join(dir, manifest.purge))) {
-    throw new Error(`purge file "${manifest.purge}" is missing`)
+    fail('schema', `purge file "${manifest.purge}" is missing`)
   }
   return manifest
 }
@@ -409,20 +433,34 @@ function load(tierRouters) {
       staged: registries.stage(id),
       tables: new Set(),
       called: new Set(),
+      hooks: { onBoot: null, onShutdown: null },
+      ctx: null,
       state: 'installed',
+      stage: null,
       reason: null,
     }
 
+    // How far load() has got, so an untagged throw is recorded against the step
+    // that was actually running (§4.3's steps 5-7). The steps before it label
+    // themselves, because readManifest covers four of them in one pass.
+    let stage = 'manifest'
     try {
       record.manifest = readManifest(dir, id, tierRouters)
+      stage = 'schema'
       record.tables = tablesOf(dir, record.manifest)
       checkTableNames(id, record.tables)
       if (record.manifest.server) {
         const entry = path.join(dir, record.manifest.server)
+        stage = 'require'
         // eslint-disable-next-line global-require, import/no-dynamic-require
         const register = require(entry)
         if (typeof register !== 'function') throw new Error(`${record.manifest.server} does not export a function`)
-        register(buildCtx(id, dir), buildApi(record))
+        stage = 'register'
+        // Kept on the record, not discarded after register(): §2.5 hands the
+        // same ctx to onBoot, and building a second one would be a second frozen
+        // object claiming to be the same handle.
+        record.ctx = buildCtx(id, dir)
+        register(record.ctx, buildApi(record))
         checkDeclared(record)
       }
       record.state = 'registered'
@@ -434,10 +472,14 @@ function load(tierRouters) {
       // A failure here is BEFORE any route was mounted, so this module's routes
       // and nav are simply absent and the site comes up without it (§4.4).
       record.state = 'startup_failed'
+      record.stage = err.stage || stage
       record.reason = err.message
       record.manifest = record.manifest || { id, version: 'unknown' }
       modules.set(id, record)
-      log.error(`module "${id}" failed to load — continuing without it`, { reason: err.message })
+      log.error(`module "${id}" failed to load — continuing without it`, {
+        stage: record.stage,
+        reason: err.message,
+      })
     }
   }
 
@@ -455,6 +497,7 @@ function load(tierRouters) {
       registries.apply(record.staged.staged)
     } catch (err) {
       record.state = 'startup_failed'
+      record.stage = 'register'
       record.reason = err.message
       log.error(`module "${record.id}" failed to register — continuing without it`, {
         reason: err.message,
@@ -502,20 +545,25 @@ const RECORD_STATES = new Set(['registered', 'started', 'disabled', 'startup_fai
  * Move a loaded module to a new state — the POST-mount transitions.
  *
  * Called by whoever ran the step that failed or the step that succeeded, because
- * only they can know: PR 3's `ensureSchema()` replays the fragments, PR 5's boot
- * dispatch runs `onBoot` and reconciles `installed_modules` (whose `disabled`
- * rows are what first make the guard's 404 leg reachable).
+ * only they can know: `ensureSchema()` replays the fragments (PR 3), and
+ * lifecycle.js runs `onBoot` and reconciles `installed_modules` (whose `disabled`
+ * rows are what make the guard's 404 leg reachable).
+ *
+ * The stage travels with the reason and is cleared by every non-failing move,
+ * for the same reason the database columns are (§2.4): a running module must
+ * never be able to show a stale failure.
  *
  * Unknown ids are ignored rather than thrown on: a module can be absent from the
  * volume and still have a row, and a caller on the boot path must not turn that
  * into everyone's failure.
  */
-function setState(id, state, reason = null) {
+function setState(id, state, { stage = null, reason = null } = {}) {
   if (!RECORD_STATES.has(state)) throw new Error(`unknown module state "${state}"`)
   const record = modules.get(id)
   if (!record) return
   record.state = state
-  record.reason = reason
+  record.stage = state === 'startup_failed' ? stage : null
+  record.reason = state === 'startup_failed' ? reason : null
 }
 
 // ── Introspection ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -550,11 +598,48 @@ function list() {
     name: r.manifest.name || r.id,
     version: r.manifest.version,
     state: r.state,
+    stage: r.stage,
     reason: r.reason,
     capabilities: r.manifest.capabilities || [],
   }))
 }
 
+/**
+ * The modules that are ready to be booted, with their hook, in scan order.
+ *
+ * `registered` only — the state a module holds between a clean load and its
+ * `onBoot`. One that failed validation or schema replay is not going to run, and
+ * one already `started` has run. A module with no `onBoot` is still listed: it
+ * has nothing to warm up, but it still has to reach `started` so the admin panel
+ * and `installed_modules` agree with the guard about what is serving.
+ *
+ * @returns {{id: string, hook: Function|null, ctx: object|null}[]}
+ */
+function bootable() {
+  assertLoaded('bootable')
+  return [...modules.values()]
+    .filter((r) => r.state === 'registered')
+    .map((r) => ({ id: r.id, hook: r.hooks.onBoot, ctx: r.ctx }))
+}
+
+/**
+ * The shutdown hooks to run, in REVERSE registration order (§2.5).
+ *
+ * `started` only. A module whose `onBoot` threw is mid-way through a warm-up it
+ * never finished, and calling its `onShutdown` would hand it a half-built world
+ * to tear down — the one thing worse than not closing cleanly. Reverse order is
+ * the same reasoning applied between modules rather than within one.
+ *
+ * @returns {{id: string, hook: Function}[]}
+ */
+function shutdownHooks() {
+  assertLoaded('shutdownHooks')
+  return [...modules.values()]
+    .filter((r) => r.state === 'started' && r.hooks.onShutdown)
+    .map((r) => ({ id: r.id, hook: r.hooks.onShutdown }))
+    .reverse()
+}
+
 /**
  * Every schema fragment waiting to be replayed, in scan order.
  *
@@ -575,4 +660,4 @@ function fragments() {
 /** Absolute path of the modules directory. */
 const dir = () => MODULES_DIR
 
-module.exports = { load, list, setState, fragments, isLoaded, dir }
+module.exports = { load, list, setState, fragments, bootable, shutdownHooks, isLoaded, dir }
diff --git a/server/src/modules/schema.js b/server/src/modules/schema.js
index 13b59d0..b1df79c 100644
--- a/server/src/modules/schema.js
+++ b/server/src/modules/schema.js
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ async function replayFragments({ query, modules } = {}) {
       }
       log.info(`schema ensured for module "${id}"`, { statements: statements.length })
     } catch (err) {
-      loader.setState(id, 'startup_failed', err.message)
+      loader.setState(id, 'startup_failed', { stage: 'schema', reason: err.message })
       log.error(`module "${id}" schema fragment failed — its routes will answer 503`, {
         reason: err.message,
       })
diff --git a/server/src/server.js b/server/src/server.js
index e6e7afa..8055468 100644
--- a/server/src/server.js
+++ b/server/src/server.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ const mobileAuthBridge = require('./model/mobileAuthBridge/mobileAuthBridge.mode
 const shardAtlas = require('./model/shardAtlas/shardAtlas.model')
 const shardClilocs = require('./model/shardClilocs/shardClilocs.model')
 const shardMarket = require('./model/shardMarket/shardMarket.model')
+const moduleLifecycle = require('./modules/lifecycle')
 const createLogger = require('./utils/logger')
 const { evaluateBotInternalKey } = require('./utils/botInternalKey')
 const brand = require('./config/brand')
@@ -109,6 +110,15 @@ async function start() {
   const mode = await settings.get('site_mode')
   log.info(`site mode: ${String(mode || 'live').toUpperCase()}`)
 
+  // Reconcile installed_modules with what the loader found on the volume at
+  // require time, then run each module's onBoot (MODULE_API.md §2.5). Placed
+  // after core's own boot work and BEFORE the listener binds, for both reasons
+  // the contract gives: a module's warm-up may depend on core being up, and a
+  // module that must not serve traffic until it has warmed a cache gets that
+  // guarantee only if nothing is listening yet. Never throws — a module that
+  // fails here keeps its URLs and answers 503.
+  await moduleLifecycle.boot()
+
   const server = http.createServer(app)
   server.listen(PORT, HOST, () => {
     log.info(`listening on http://${HOST}:${PORT}  (API at /api/v1, health at /api/health)`)
@@ -174,6 +184,12 @@ function setupShutdown(server, internalServer) {
     if (closing) return
     closing = true
     log.warn(`${signal} received — shutting down gracefully`)
+    // Modules first, while everything they were handed still works: the database
+    // pool, the push dispatcher and the SSE fan-out are all still open here, and
+    // a module's onShutdown is the only chance it gets to flush through them
+    // (MODULE_API.md §2.5). Each hook is budgeted, so one that will not let go
+    // costs five seconds rather than the whole shutdown.
+    await moduleLifecycle.shutdown()
     botScore.stopSweeper() // stop the bot-store cleanup interval
     announceWorker.stop() // stop the news-announcement dispatcher poller
     uoLinkSocket.stop() // close the uo-link WS ingest client
diff --git a/server/test/moduleLifecycle.test.js b/server/test/moduleLifecycle.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b741548
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/test/moduleLifecycle.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,376 @@
+// ── Boot and shutdown dispatch ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Phase 2, PR 5. The contract is MODULE_API.md §2.5 (when the hooks run, in what
+// order, with what budget), §4.4 (a failure after mounting is a 503, not a
+// crash), §4.5 (a disabled module is guarded, never unmounted) and
+// MODULE_SYSTEM.md §2.4 (what a boot does to installed_modules).
+//
+// The property under test throughout, as in moduleLoader.test.js and
+// moduleSchema.test.js: **the failing module fails alone.** A hook that throws,
+// a hook that hangs, a row that will not write — none of them may cost the site
+// its boot or the next module its start.
+//
+// No database is involved: `boot()` takes the model as an injectable dependency
+// for exactly the reason `replayFragments` takes its query, and the fake below
+// records every call so the ORDER of the reconcile can be asserted — which is
+// the whole design, not an implementation detail.
+process.env.DB_HOST = '127.0.0.1'
+process.env.DB_PORT = '59999'
+
+const fs = require('fs')
+const os = require('os')
+const path = require('path')
+
+const { test, beforeEach, after } = require('node:test')
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict')
+
+const express = require('express')
+
+const db = require('../src/utils/db')
+const registries = require('../src/modules/registries')
+const lifecycle = require('../src/modules/lifecycle')
+const { startApp } = require('./_helper')
+
+after(() => db.close())
+
+let tmpRoot
+
+const emptyTiers = () => ({
+  public: express.Router(),
+  admin: express.Router(),
+  player: express.Router(),
+})
+
+function freshLoader(dir, tiers = emptyTiers()) {
+  process.env.MODULES_DIR = dir
+  registries._reset()
+  delete require.cache[require.resolve('../src/modules/loader')]
+  // eslint-disable-next-line global-require
+  const loader = require('../src/modules/loader')
+  loader.load(tiers)
+  return loader
+}
+
+/**
+ * A module whose hooks report themselves into a file.
+ *
+ * A file rather than a shared array because the module is `require`d from disk
+ * and cannot close over anything this file owns — the same trick the ctx probe
+ * in moduleLoader.test.js uses.
+ */
+function writeModule(id, { boot, shutdown, mounts, log: logFile } = {}) {
+  const dir = path.join(tmpRoot, id)
+  fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true })
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'module.json'), JSON.stringify({
+    id,
+    name: `Module ${id}`,
+    version: '1.2.3',
+    coreApi: '^1.0.0',
+    server: 'index.js',
+    ...(mounts === undefined ? {} : { mounts }),
+  }))
+  const note = logFile
+    ? `const note = (what) => require('fs').appendFileSync(${JSON.stringify(logFile)}, what + '\\n')`
+    : 'const note = () => {}'
+  const register = mounts === undefined ? '' : `
+    const r = ctx.express.Router()
+    r.get('/', (req, res) => res.json({ ok: true }))
+    api.registerRoutes({ public: { '${(mounts.public || [])[0]}': r } })`
+  // `boot: ''` means "registers a hook that does nothing", which is a different
+  // module from one that registers no hook at all — hence the undefined check
+  // rather than a truthiness test.
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'index.js'), `${note}
+    module.exports = (ctx, api) => {${register}
+      ${boot === undefined ? '' : `api.onBoot(async (c) => { note('boot:${id}' + (c && c.moduleId === '${id}' ? ':ctx' : ':NOCTX')); ${boot} })`}
+      ${shutdown === undefined ? '' : `api.onShutdown(async () => { note('shutdown:${id}'); ${shutdown} })`}
+    }`)
+  return dir
+}
+
+/** An in-memory stand-in for model/modules/modules.model.js. */
+function fakeModel(seed = []) {
+  const rows = new Map(seed.map((r) => [r.id, { failureStage: null, failureReason: null, ...r }]))
+  const calls = []
+  const model = {
+    rows,
+    calls,
+    async beginBoot() {
+      calls.push('beginBoot')
+      for (const row of rows.values()) {
+        if (row.state === 'disabled') continue
+        Object.assign(row, { state: 'enabled', failureStage: null, failureReason: null })
+      }
+    },
+    async recordInstalled({ id, name, version }) {
+      calls.push(`recordInstalled:${id}`)
+      const row = rows.get(id)
+      // Metadata is refreshed; state is deliberately left alone (§2.4).
+      if (row) Object.assign(row, { name, version })
+      else rows.set(id, { id, name, version, state: 'installed', failureStage: null, failureReason: null })
+    },
+    async list() {
+      calls.push('list')
+      return [...rows.values()]
+    },
+    async markStarted(id) {
+      calls.push(`markStarted:${id}`)
+      Object.assign(rows.get(id), { state: 'started', failureStage: null, failureReason: null })
+    },
+    async markStartupFailed(id, { stage, reason }) {
+      calls.push(`markStartupFailed:${id}`)
+      const row = rows.get(id)
+      // The model's own softening, reproduced because tests below depend on it:
+      // a disabled row is a no-op, or an outcome would overwrite the operator's
+      // decision and silently re-enable the module next boot.
+      if (!row || row.state === 'disabled') return
+      Object.assign(row, { state: 'startup_failed', failureStage: stage, failureReason: reason })
+    },
+  }
+  return model
+}
+
+const stateOf = (loader, id) => loader.list().find((m) => m.id === id)
+const noted = (file) => (fs.existsSync(file) ? fs.readFileSync(file, 'utf8').trim().split('\n') : [])
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  tmpRoot = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'rg-lifecycle-'))
+})
+
+// ── The happy path ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('every module is recorded, booted with its ctx and marked started, in scan order', async () => {
+  const file = path.join(tmpRoot, 'log.txt')
+  writeModule('aaa', { boot: '', log: file })
+  writeModule('bbb', { boot: '', log: file })
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+  const model = fakeModel()
+
+  await lifecycle.boot({ modules: loader, model })
+
+  // The reconcile order IS the design (§2.4): clear the last boot's outcomes
+  // first, so what is on display afterwards is what this boot did.
+  assert.equal(model.calls[0], 'beginBoot')
+  assert.deepEqual(model.calls.slice(1, 3), ['recordInstalled:aaa', 'recordInstalled:bbb'])
+  assert.deepEqual(noted(file), ['boot:aaa:ctx', 'boot:bbb:ctx'])
+  assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'aaa').state, 'started')
+  assert.equal(model.rows.get('bbb').state, 'started')
+  // §2.4's metadata refresh: the row carries what the admin screen shows.
+  assert.equal(model.rows.get('aaa').name, 'Module aaa')
+  assert.equal(model.rows.get('aaa').version, '1.2.3')
+})
+
+test('a hand-placed directory gets a row with no provenance', async () => {
+  // §2.5 keeps a directory dropped on the volume by hand a supported install.
+  // Without a row it could never be disabled, and nothing could report it.
+  writeModule('byhand', { boot: '' })
+  const model = fakeModel()
+
+  await lifecycle.boot({ modules: freshLoader(tmpRoot), model })
+
+  const row = model.rows.get('byhand')
+  assert.equal(row.state, 'started')
+  assert.equal(row.source ?? null, null)
+  assert.equal(row.sha256 ?? null, null)
+})
+
+test('a module with no onBoot still reaches started', async () => {
+  writeModule('quiet', {})
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+  const model = fakeModel()
+
+  await lifecycle.boot({ modules: loader, model })
+
+  // Nothing to warm up is not the same as never having started: the guard lets
+  // its routes through, so the row has to agree that it is serving.
+  assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'quiet').state, 'started')
+  assert.equal(model.rows.get('quiet').state, 'started')
+})
+
+// ── Failure is a state ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('an onBoot that throws fails its own module and no one else', async () => {
+  const file = path.join(tmpRoot, 'log.txt')
+  writeModule('aaa', { boot: '', log: file })
+  writeModule('bbb', { boot: 'throw new Error("cache warm-up failed")', log: file })
+  writeModule('ccc', { boot: '', log: file })
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+  const model = fakeModel()
+
+  await lifecycle.boot({ modules: loader, model })
+
+  assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'bbb').state, 'startup_failed')
+  assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'bbb').stage, 'boot')
+  assert.match(stateOf(loader, 'bbb').reason, /cache warm-up failed/)
+  assert.equal(model.rows.get('bbb').failureStage, 'boot')
+  // The one that matters: the module AFTER the failure still booted.
+  assert.deepEqual(noted(file), ['boot:aaa:ctx', 'boot:bbb:ctx', 'boot:ccc:ctx'])
+  assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'ccc').state, 'started')
+})
+
+test('a module whose onBoot failed keeps its URLs and answers 503', async () => {
+  // §4.4's right-hand column, reached by the real mechanism rather than a
+  // hand-moved state: routes.manifest.json must not depend on whether a boot
+  // hook happened to succeed on the machine that generated it.
+  writeModule('svc', { boot: 'throw new Error("no")', mounts: { public: ['/widgets'] } })
+  const tiers = emptyTiers()
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot, tiers)
+  const app = await startApp((a) => a.use('/public', tiers.public))
+
+  try {
+    assert.equal((await fetch(`${app.url}/public/widgets`)).status, 200)
+    await lifecycle.boot({ modules: loader, model: fakeModel() })
+    assert.equal((await fetch(`${app.url}/public/widgets`)).status, 503)
+  } finally {
+    await app.close()
+  }
+})
+
+test('a failure from load or schema replay is written down with its stage', async () => {
+  // Both happen before the database is reachable — load() at require time, the
+  // replay inside ensureSchema — so the boot reconcile is where they land.
+  writeModule('bad', {})
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(tmpRoot, 'bad', 'module.json'), JSON.stringify({
+    id: 'bad', name: 'bad', version: '1.0.0', coreApi: '^99.0.0',
+  }))
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+  const model = fakeModel()
+
+  await lifecycle.boot({ modules: loader, model })
+
+  const row = model.rows.get('bad')
+  assert.equal(row.state, 'startup_failed')
+  assert.equal(row.failureStage, 'core_api')
+  assert.match(row.failureReason, /needs core API \^99\.0\.0/)
+})
+
+// ── The operator's switch ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('a disabled row guards the module, skips its hook and is not overwritten', async () => {
+  const file = path.join(tmpRoot, 'log.txt')
+  writeModule('off', { boot: '', shutdown: '', mounts: { public: ['/widgets'] }, log: file })
+  const tiers = emptyTiers()
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot, tiers)
+  const model = fakeModel([{ id: 'off', name: 'Module off', version: '1.2.3', state: 'disabled' }])
+  const app = await startApp((a) => a.use('/public', tiers.public))
+
+  try {
+    await lifecycle.boot({ modules: loader, model })
+
+    // §4.5's 404 leg, unreachable until this reconcile existed: mounted and
+    // guarded, never unmounted, so the URL surface stays a property of the
+    // volume rather than of a database row.
+    assert.equal((await fetch(`${app.url}/public/widgets`)).status, 404)
+    assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'off').state, 'disabled')
+    assert.deepEqual(noted(file), [], 'a disabled module must not be booted')
+    // Still disabled: an outcome must never overwrite a decision, or the next
+    // boot would silently switch it back on.
+    assert.equal(model.rows.get('off').state, 'disabled')
+    // And nothing to tear down, because it never started.
+    await lifecycle.shutdown({ modules: loader })
+    assert.deepEqual(noted(file), [])
+  } finally {
+    await app.close()
+  }
+})
+
+test('a row whose directory is gone is marked failed rather than left claiming enabled', async () => {
+  writeModule('here', { boot: '' })
+  const model = fakeModel([
+    { id: 'here', name: 'Module here', version: '1.2.3', state: 'started' },
+    { id: 'gone', name: 'Module gone', version: '0.9.0', state: 'started' },
+    // An uninstall leaves `disabled`, which beginBoot never touches — so this
+    // one is not an anomaly and must be left exactly as the operator left it.
+    { id: 'uninstalled', name: 'Module uninstalled', version: '0.1.0', state: 'disabled' },
+  ])
+
+  await lifecycle.boot({ modules: freshLoader(tmpRoot), model })
+
+  assert.equal(model.rows.get('here').state, 'started')
+  assert.equal(model.rows.get('gone').state, 'startup_failed')
+  assert.match(model.rows.get('gone').failureReason, /not present on the volume/)
+  assert.equal(model.rows.get('uninstalled').state, 'disabled')
+})
+
+// ── The site comes up regardless ───────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('a database that will not take the bookkeeping still boots the modules', async () => {
+  // A row that will not update is bad — the admin panel shows the wrong thing —
+  // but it is strictly less bad than a site that will not start.
+  const file = path.join(tmpRoot, 'log.txt')
+  writeModule('aaa', { boot: '', log: file })
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+  const model = fakeModel()
+  for (const name of ['beginBoot', 'recordInstalled', 'list', 'markStarted']) {
+    model[name] = async () => { throw new Error('ER_LOCK_WAIT_TIMEOUT') }
+  }
+
+  await assert.doesNotReject(() => lifecycle.boot({ modules: loader, model }))
+
+  assert.deepEqual(noted(file), ['boot:aaa:ctx'])
+  assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'aaa').state, 'started')
+})
+
+test('a process that never scanned writes nothing at all', async () => {
+  // `npm run seed` is exactly this: it calls ensureSchema() without ever
+  // requiring app.js. Reconciling against an empty scan would mark every
+  // installed module as missing from the volume.
+  process.env.MODULES_DIR = tmpRoot
+  delete require.cache[require.resolve('../src/modules/loader')]
+  // eslint-disable-next-line global-require
+  const unscanned = require('../src/modules/loader')
+  const model = fakeModel([{ id: 'real', name: 'Module real', version: '1.0.0', state: 'started' }])
+
+  await lifecycle.boot({ modules: unscanned, model })
+
+  assert.deepEqual(model.calls, [])
+  assert.equal(model.rows.get('real').state, 'started')
+})
+
+// ── Shutdown ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('shutdown runs started modules in reverse order and skips the rest', async () => {
+  const file = path.join(tmpRoot, 'log.txt')
+  writeModule('aaa', { boot: '', shutdown: '', log: file })
+  writeModule('bbb', { boot: 'throw new Error("no")', shutdown: '', log: file })
+  writeModule('ccc', { boot: '', shutdown: '', log: file })
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+
+  await lifecycle.boot({ modules: loader, model: fakeModel() })
+  fs.writeFileSync(file, '') // only the shutdown half is under test
+  await lifecycle.shutdown({ modules: loader })
+
+  // Reverse of boot order, and `bbb` absent: its onBoot threw, so it has a
+  // half-built world that its onShutdown was never written to tear down.
+  assert.deepEqual(noted(file), ['shutdown:ccc', 'shutdown:aaa'])
+})
+
+test('a hook that hangs costs its budget, not the shutdown', async () => {
+  const file = path.join(tmpRoot, 'log.txt')
+  writeModule('aaa', { boot: '', shutdown: '', log: file })
+  writeModule('zzz', { boot: '', shutdown: 'await new Promise(() => {})', log: file })
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+
+  await lifecycle.boot({ modules: loader, model: fakeModel() })
+  fs.writeFileSync(file, '')
+
+  const started = Date.now()
+  await lifecycle.shutdown({ modules: loader, budgetMs: 50 })
+
+  // zzz never returns; it is abandoned and aaa still gets its turn. The
+  // alternative is a host where `systemctl stop` hangs until SIGKILL.
+  assert.deepEqual(noted(file), ['shutdown:zzz', 'shutdown:aaa'])
+  assert.ok(Date.now() - started < 2000, 'shutdown must not wait on a hung hook')
+})
+
+test('a hook that throws does not stop the ones behind it', async () => {
+  const file = path.join(tmpRoot, 'log.txt')
+  writeModule('aaa', { boot: '', shutdown: '', log: file })
+  writeModule('zzz', { boot: '', shutdown: 'throw new Error("close failed")', log: file })
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+
+  await lifecycle.boot({ modules: loader, model: fakeModel() })
+  fs.writeFileSync(file, '')
+
+  await assert.doesNotReject(() => lifecycle.shutdown({ modules: loader }))
+  assert.deepEqual(noted(file), ['shutdown:zzz', 'shutdown:aaa'])
+})
diff --git a/server/test/moduleLoader.test.js b/server/test/moduleLoader.test.js
index dd5b09f..70e234f 100644
--- a/server/test/moduleLoader.test.js
+++ b/server/test/moduleLoader.test.js
@@ -437,9 +437,10 @@ test('a registered module answers on its prefix; a failed one is simply absent',
 test('a module that fails AFTER mounting keeps its URLs and answers 503', async () => {
   // The right-hand column of §4.4, and the reason routes.manifest.json can be
   // generated off a dead database: the URL surface must not depend on whether a
-  // boot step succeeded on the generating machine. PR 3 (schema replay) and PR 5
-  // (onBoot) are the two things that will trip this in real life; here the state
-  // is moved by hand, because the loader is the thing under test.
+  // boot step succeeded on the generating machine. The schema replay and onBoot
+  // are the two things that trip this in real life (moduleSchema.test.js and
+  // moduleLifecycle.test.js cover both); here the state is moved by hand,
+  // because the loader is the thing under test.
   writeModule('later', oneRoute('/widgets'))
 
   const tiers = emptyTiers()
@@ -451,18 +452,23 @@ test('a module that fails AFTER mounting keeps its URLs and answers 503', async
 
     assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'later').state, 'registered')
 
-    loader.setState('later', 'startup_failed', 'schema fragment blew up')
+    loader.setState('later', 'startup_failed', { stage: 'schema', reason: 'schema fragment blew up' })
     assert.equal((await fetch(`${app.url}/public/widgets`)).status, 503)
     assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'later').reason, 'schema fragment blew up')
+    assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'later').stage, 'schema')
 
-    // The 404 leg becomes reachable for real in PR 5, when the boot reconcile
-    // reads a `disabled` row out of installed_modules. A disabled module is
-    // mounted and guarded, never unmounted (§4.5) — same reason as the 503.
+    // The 404 leg is reached for real by the boot reconcile, when it finds a
+    // `disabled` row in installed_modules. A disabled module is mounted and
+    // guarded, never unmounted (§4.5) — same reason as the 503.
     loader.setState('later', 'disabled')
     assert.equal((await fetch(`${app.url}/public/widgets`)).status, 404)
 
     loader.setState('later', 'started')
     assert.equal((await fetch(`${app.url}/public/widgets`)).status, 200)
+    // Every non-failing move clears the failure, so a running module can never
+    // show the reason it failed two boots ago (§2.4).
+    assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'later').reason, null)
+    assert.equal(stateOf(loader, 'later').stage, null)
   } finally {
     await app.close()
   }
@@ -506,19 +512,79 @@ test('ctx exposes exactly the documented surface, and is frozen', () => {
   assert.equal(probe.mutable, false, 'ctx members must be frozen')
 })
 
-test('the register calls PR 5 owns throw rather than silently accepting', () => {
-  // An accepting no-op would let a module believe it had registered a boot hook
-  // and fail silently at the far end.
-  for (const [call, pr] of [
-    ['onBoot', 5],
-    ['onShutdown', 5],
+// ── Lifecycle hooks ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('a lifecycle hook must be a function, and may be registered once', () => {
+  // Both are register-time failures, so they cost the module its mount entirely
+  // rather than surfacing at boot — the far end of a hook that was never really
+  // registered is a module that silently never warms up.
+  for (const [body, expected] of [
+    ['api.onBoot("later")', /onBoot: expected a function/],
+    ['api.onShutdown("later")', /onShutdown: expected a function/],
+    ['api.onBoot(() => {}); api.onBoot(() => {})', /onBoot\(\) called twice/],
   ]) {
     tmpRoot = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'rg-modules-'))
-    writeModule('early', { server: `module.exports = (ctx, api) => api.${call}(() => {})` })
-    assert.match(
-      stateOf(freshLoader(tmpRoot), 'early').reason,
-      new RegExp(`${call}: not available until phase 2 PR ${pr}`),
-    )
+    writeModule('hooked', { server: `module.exports = (ctx, api) => { ${body} }` })
+    const state = stateOf(freshLoader(tmpRoot), 'hooked')
+    assert.match(state.reason, expected)
+    assert.equal(state.stage, 'register')
+  }
+})
+
+test('a module with no hooks is bootable, and offers nothing to shut down', () => {
+  writeModule('quiet', oneRoute('/widgets'))
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+
+  // Listed with a null hook rather than filtered out: it still has to reach
+  // `started`, or the admin panel and the dispatch guard would disagree about
+  // whether it is serving.
+  assert.deepEqual(loader.bootable().map((b) => b.id), ['quiet'])
+  assert.equal(loader.bootable()[0].hook, null)
+  assert.deepEqual(loader.shutdownHooks(), [])
+})
+
+test('shutdown hooks come back in reverse order, and only for started modules', () => {
+  const hook = 'module.exports = (ctx, api) => api.onShutdown(async () => {})'
+  writeModule('aaa', { server: hook })
+  writeModule('bbb', { server: hook })
+  writeModule('ccc', { server: hook })
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+
+  // Nothing has started yet, so there is nothing to tear down.
+  assert.deepEqual(loader.shutdownHooks(), [])
+
+  loader.setState('aaa', 'started')
+  loader.setState('bbb', 'startup_failed', { stage: 'boot', reason: 'never warmed up' })
+  loader.setState('ccc', 'started')
+
+  // Reverse registration order (§2.5), and `bbb` is absent: a module whose
+  // onBoot threw is mid-way through a warm-up it never finished, and handing it
+  // a half-built world to tear down is worse than not closing cleanly.
+  assert.deepEqual(loader.shutdownHooks().map((h) => h.id), ['ccc', 'aaa'])
+})
+
+// ── Failure stages ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('a failure is recorded against the §4.3 step that produced it', () => {
+  // installed_modules.failure_stage exists so the admin panel can say WHERE a
+  // module broke. The four steps readManifest covers in one pass have to label
+  // themselves; the rest are inferred from how far load() had got.
+  const cases = [
+    ['a-manifest', { manifest: { nonsense: true } }, 'manifest'],
+    ['b-coreapi', { manifest: { coreApi: '^99.0.0' } }, 'core_api'],
+    ['c-mounts', { manifest: { mounts: { public: ['/bad prefix'] } } }, 'mounts'],
+    ['d-slots', { manifest: { extensions: ['no.such.slot'] } }, 'extensions'],
+    ['e-schema', { schema: 'DELETE FROM x;' }, 'schema'],
+    ['f-require', { server: 'throw new Error("boom")' }, 'require'],
+    ['g-register', { server: 'module.exports = (ctx, api) => { throw new Error("nope") }' }, 'register'],
+  ]
+  for (const [id, spec] of cases) writeModule(id, spec)
+  const loader = freshLoader(tmpRoot)
+
+  for (const [id, , stage] of cases) {
+    const state = stateOf(loader, id)
+    assert.equal(state.state, 'startup_failed', `${id} should have failed`)
+    assert.equal(state.stage, stage, `${id} should have failed at "${stage}"`)
   }
 })