docs: call an authority Evidence deployment a gateway

README.md

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ The reset has two evidence cadences:
 - CRA civil links and death status, MoSD enrolment, SIPF pension and survivor
   cases, and NAgDI agriculture requirements use named Relay V2 exact lookups.
 
-Six Evidence cells have distinct providers, issuers, signing keys, JWKS, audit
+Six Evidence gateways have distinct providers, issuers, signing keys, JWKS, audit
 sinks, subject-binding secrets, and endpoints. Five Relays expose only the
 named non-enumerating operations needed by the lab. NIA's Relay is reserved for
 the optional eSignet UserInfo profile; NIA Evidence reads its own extract.
@@ -60,11 +60,12 @@ Local entry points after startup are:
 
 - Visitor Center: `http://127.0.0.1:4301`
 - Programme portal: `http://127.0.0.1:4300`
-- Authority Evidence gateway: `https://localhost:4341/evidence/{authority}`
+- Local TLS front door: `https://localhost:4341/evidence/{authority}`
 - Static metadata: `http://127.0.0.1:4331`
 
-The gateway strips `/evidence/{authority}` before forwarding. Application code
-uses six authority base URLs and never assumes a national Evidence host.
+The front door strips `/evidence/{authority}` before forwarding, so one local
+port reaches all six gateways. Application code uses six authority base URLs and
+never assumes a national Evidence host.
 
 ## Architecture
 
@@ -103,7 +104,7 @@ uv run python -m solmara_lab.publisher --root .. publish-extract \
 
 The live MoSD mutation is visible on the next Relay-backed Evidence request
 without a restart. A newly named SRO extract is not visible until only the SRO
-Evidence cell is rebound and restarted. Invalid, stale, or overwritten extracts
+Evidence gateway is rebound and restarted. Invalid, stale, or overwritten extracts
 fail closed. Run lifecycle smoke in isolated volumes or restore the deterministic
 fixture state afterward.
 
@@ -131,9 +132,9 @@ Relay/Evidence authoring inputs are tracked.
 
 - `relays/` contains five authority-governed Relay V2 projects.
 - `evidence/cells/` contains six authority Evidence bundle templates and
-  runtime bindings.
+  runtime bindings, one per gateway.
 - `generator/solmara_lab/publisher.py` publishes deterministic SQLite sources.
-- `scenarios/` and `scenario-runner/` route requirements to authority cells,
+- `scenarios/` and `scenario-runner/` route requirements to authority gateways,
   verify multiple JWKS, and compose application outcomes.
 - `portal/` and `home/` display safe authority, issuer, and source-type labels.
 - `metadata/` and `requests/registry-lab/` publish discovery and request

docs/changelog.md

@@ -3,6 +3,16 @@
 A small dated log of what changed in the visitor center and the lab topology.
 Newest entry first.
 
+## 2026-08-20 Evidence gateways replace "cells"
+
+Every visitor-facing surface now calls an authority's Evidence deployment an
+Evidence gateway. "Cell" was a private coinage of the reset and was never
+defined for a reader; "gateway" is the noun Registry Stack itself uses for the
+service that answers a requirement over an authority's own source. Nothing in
+the topology changed. Directory names, hostnames, volume paths, and the
+`solmara-authority-cells` catalogue identifier keep their existing spelling
+because they are identities rather than descriptions.
+
 ## 2026-08-20 Registry Stack v0.23.0
 
 Solmara pins Registry Stack v0.23.0 across `versions.env`, the release-pin
@@ -13,10 +23,10 @@ topology is unchanged. The reason to move is security: v0.23.0 upgrades `h2`
 to 0.4.17, past RUSTSEC-2026-0258, where a peer could queue unlimited empty
 DATA frames on the HTTP/2 path that Relay and Evidence both serve over.
 
-The Evidence deployment contract gained three required fields, so the six cell
+The Evidence deployment contract gained three required fields, so the six gateway
 bundles are authored rather than only re-pinned. `service.publicOrigin` names
-the one routed origin RFC 9728 discovery answers on, which is each cell's own
-`<cell>-evidence.solmara.registrystack.org`. Every requirement and every
+the one routed origin RFC 9728 discovery answers on, which is each gateway's own
+`<authority>-evidence.solmara.registrystack.org`. Every requirement and every
 concept now carries a `handle`, the stable key a client reads a result under;
 each is authored to the last segment of the identifier it names. v0.23.0 also
 adds Registry Discovery and published Discovery client packages, neither of
@@ -53,7 +63,7 @@ digest input.
 
 ## 2026-08-12 Authority-owned Relay and Evidence reset
 
-Solmara now authors six independent Evidence cells and five Relay V2 projects.
+Solmara now authors six independent Evidence gateways and five Relay V2 projects.
 CRA, NIA, and SRO publish immutable SQLite extracts for direct Evidence use;
 CRA, MoSD, SIPF, and NAgDI expose only named exact Relay lookups, with NIA's
 Relay reserved for the optional eSignet UserInfo profile. The programme code

docs/hosted-deployment.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Hosted deployment
 
-Deploy the authority-cell reset only from the exact Registry Stack release
+Deploy the authority-owned reset only from the exact Registry Stack release
 recorded in `versions.env`. Relay, Evidence, and Mint must use their official
 Registry Stack OCI images pinned by digest. Solmara-owned images are also
 digest-pinned, while the local Relayctl helper is assembled from its
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ Do not reuse an unrelated package or deploy a mutable tag.
 ## Authority topology
 
 The hosted topology contains five Relay V2 services, six independently signed
-Evidence cells, one shared lab Mint, and the programme application. The optional
+Evidence gateways, one shared lab Mint, and the programme application. The optional
 eSignet profile uses the NIA Relay lookup.
 
 Evidence hosts are:
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ Evidence hosts are:
 - `sipf-evidence.solmara.registrystack.org`
 - `nagdi-evidence.solmara.registrystack.org`
 
-Each host is also the cell's own identity. The signed bundle carries it as
-`service.publicOrigin`, and the cell answers with it as the `resource` and the
+Each host is also the gateway's own identity. The signed bundle carries it as
+`service.publicOrigin`, and the gateway answers with it as the `resource` and the
 `jwks_uri` prefix of its RFC 9728 protected-resource metadata and in the
 `WWW-Authenticate` challenge it returns. `SOLMARA_<CELL>_EVIDENCE_PUBLIC_HOST`
 moves the route without moving that identity, so a deployment that sets one
@@ -72,16 +72,16 @@ paths are:
 |---|---:|---|
 | Shared Mint | 3 | Runtime, secrets, and Transit socket |
 | Five Relays | 10 | One runtime and one mutable source path per authority |
-| Six Evidence cells | 21 | Runtime, secrets, and Transit socket per cell, plus the CRA, NIA, and SRO immutable-extract paths |
+| Six Evidence gateways | 21 | Runtime, secrets, and Transit socket per gateway, plus the CRA, NIA, and SRO immutable-extract paths |
 
 Each application also joins a Coolify-managed container network that carries the
 ingress proxy, alongside the private runtime network its services address. A
 listener bound only to its private runtime address refuses that proxy and never
-answers its public route, so Mint and every Evidence cell bind every interface.
+answers its public route, so Mint and every Evidence gateway bind every interface.
 Evidence records this as `networkExposure: container-private`, the exposure its
 runtime requires before it accepts a wildcard bind. Isolation rests on network
 membership rather than on the bind address: an application's networks carry only
-its own containers and the proxy, so no authority reaches another's cells.
+its own containers and the proxy, so no authority reaches another's gateways.
 
 Joining two networks makes a container's routable address ambiguous. Traefik
 reads the address from the first network it iterates when no network is named,
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ to two different empty directories. Co-locating the provision, signer, core, and
 four authority applications is a deployment precondition.
 
 Each ministry runs its own signer application, which creates and owns the
-Transit socket paths of its cells and runs one isolated signer per cell:
+Transit socket paths of its gateways and runs one isolated signer per gateway:
 
 | Application | File | Signers |
 |---|---|---|
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ least-authority source clients, each limited to its named operation:
 - `nia-esignet`
 
 The ninth client, `solmara-demo`, belongs to the programme application and is
-used to request assertions from the authority Evidence cells. The shared Mint
+used to request assertions from the authority Evidence gateways. The shared Mint
 is a lab convenience, not production tenancy guidance.
 
 ## Secret boundary
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ Compose file, repository file, build log, or delivery record:
 - authority-specific Relay audit HMAC keys, plus cursor HMAC keys for the Relay
   contracts that require cursors;
 - Mint and Evidence audit HMAC keys;
-- one subject-binding HMAC key for each Evidence cell;
+- one subject-binding HMAC key for each Evidence gateway;
 - the programme federator token;
 - when eSignet is enabled, its database credential, KYC-token and PSUT HMAC
   secrets, KYC keystore credentials, and portal OIDC client key.
@@ -195,14 +195,14 @@ hosted provisioner creates the initial checked publication and reuses the exact
 active filename on a restart. It never overwrites an active extract in place.
 
 Reuse does not re-apply the extract's serving age. `maximumExtractAgeSeconds` is
-a policy each Evidence cell applies to live requests, so re-checking it while
+a policy each Evidence gateway applies to live requests, so re-checking it while
 re-adopting an already published extract would only make the provision
 application refuse to redeploy a day after it last ran. Every other binding,
 metadata, schema, and integrity check still applies, and an extract published in
 the future is still refused. Publishing a newer checkpoint remains the deliberate
 `publish-extract` operation below.
 
-To publish a later checkpoint, override the matching direct-cell provisioner
+To publish a later checkpoint, override the matching direct-gateway provisioner
 service command with:
 
 ```text
@@ -211,8 +211,9 @@ publish-extract --target <cra|nia|sro>-evidence --assets /opt/solmara-hosted-ass
 
 The operation validates the current binding, appends the checked publication
 under a fresh immutable filename, preserves the old file, and atomically
-rebinds only that cell's runtime configuration. Restart only the matching
-Evidence cell after the operation succeeds. The running cell continues to read
+rebinds only that gateway's runtime configuration. Restart only the matching
+Evidence gateway after the operation succeeds. The running gateway continues to
+read
 the old mounted extract until that restart. A malformed, metadata-mismatched,
 or non-newer publication fails closed.
 
@@ -248,7 +249,7 @@ Deploy the reset alongside the existing deployment in this order:
    `compose.coolify.social-development.yaml`,
    `compose.coolify.labour-pensions.yaml`, and
    `compose.coolify.agriculture.yaml`. Confirm all five Relays and all six
-   Evidence cells are ready on the private routes.
+   Evidence gateways are ready on the private routes.
 6. Run the hosted programme, denial, JWKS, source-label, redaction, and UI smoke
    against the new routes before changing public routing.
 7. If required for this deployment, add `compose.coolify.esignet.yaml` and run
@@ -274,7 +275,7 @@ requires:
 - wrong-purpose and unauthorized calls to fail generically;
 - the portal to prove authority URL selection, per-authority JWKS verification,
   source-type labels, and redaction;
-- the Visitor Center to show the publisher, six Evidence cells, five Relays,
+- the Visitor Center to show the publisher, six Evidence gateways, five Relays,
   shared Mint, and programme application;
 - when the optional profile is deployed, eSignet login to complete through the
   NIA Relay V2 lookup.

docs/purposes.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 Status: normative for the authority-owned Evidence reset.
 
 Evidence requests carry one closed purpose code in the signed request body.
-For Relay-backed requirements, the Evidence cell authenticates to Registry Mint
+For Relay-backed requirements, the Evidence gateway authenticates to Registry Mint
 with a dedicated private-key JWT client. Mint issues a token whose registration
 fixes the full purpose IRI, exact Relay scope, and `solmara-runtime` audience.
 The caller cannot select or override downstream Relay authority.
@@ -30,4 +30,4 @@ Responses and logs never include selectors, tokens, source rows, secrets,
 private keys, audit material, or sensitive dependency details.
 
 The programme application verifies every authority JWS and owns the final
-cross-authority outcome. No Evidence cell returns an application decision.
+cross-authority outcome. No Evidence gateway returns an application decision.

docs/solmara.md

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # Solmara lab architecture
 
-Solmara is a fictional institutional lab. Its core boundary is an authority
-cell: an authority publishes a governed source, operates its Evidence service,
-signs its assertions, and owns its audit trail. A programme consumes assertions
-from several cells and owns the programme decision.
+Solmara is a fictional institutional lab. Its core boundary is the authority:
+each one publishes a governed source, operates its own Evidence gateway, signs
+its assertions, and owns its audit trail. A programme consumes assertions from
+several authorities and owns the programme decision.
 
 ## Runtime topology
 
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ from several cells and owns the programme decision.
 | SIPF | live read-only SQLite | pension payment and survivor exact lookups |
 | NAgDI | live read-only SQLite | voucher and livestock exact lookups |
 
-There are six Evidence cells and five Relays. A Relay exists only for governed
-live consultation. It is not a façade over an Evidence cell's immutable local
-extract.
+There are six Evidence gateways and five Relays. A Relay exists only for
+governed live consultation. It is not a façade over an Evidence gateway's
+immutable local extract.
 
 Every Relay operation has one dedicated Mint client registration, exact scope,
 fixed purpose claim, access profile, and disclosure profile. Relays do not
@@ -27,10 +27,11 @@ offer list, search, cursor, or generic record routes. The shared
 
 ## Evidence authority
 
-Each cell has a unique provider IRI, authority DID issuer, ES256 signing key and
-JWKS, audit destination, subject-binding secret, runtime binding, and hostname.
-The application chooses the cell from a closed requirement directory, fetches
-only that cell's JWKS, verifies the exact requirement, evidence type, concepts,
+Each gateway has a unique provider IRI, authority DID issuer, ES256 signing key
+and JWKS, audit destination, subject-binding secret, runtime binding, and
+hostname. The application chooses the gateway from a closed requirement
+directory, fetches only that gateway's JWKS, verifies the exact requirement,
+evidence type, concepts,
 purpose, nonce, issuer, provider, audience, and validity window, then retains a
 safe presentation projection.
 
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ profile.
 Wrong scope, wrong purpose, malformed selectors, invalid source rows,
 unavailable source, and unavailable audit fail closed. No-match, ambiguous
 match, and policy-hidden matches use the same data-free unresolved class. An
-Evidence cell does not infer a negative assertion from an unresolved Relay
+Evidence gateway does not infer a negative assertion from an unresolved Relay
 consultation.
 
 ## Programme stories

docs/stories/birth-to-child-benefit.md

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ unregistered birth, duplicate enrolment, and wrong purpose. An unregistered
 birth is a valid CRA record with no BRN and produces signed false, not an
 unresolved consultation. The mutable MoSD source changes on the next request;
 the three immutable sources change only after a reviewed replacement is bound
-and the owning cell is restarted.
+and the owning gateway is restarted.
 
 The response surface contains safe authority, issuer, provider, source type,
 and verified concept values. It does not contain selectors, tokens, source

docs/stories/death-to-pension-survivor.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 The pension application combines a CRA death assertion and a SIPF active
 payment assertion under `pension-payment-review`. The application, not either
-Evidence cell, derives whether payment should stop.
+Evidence gateway, derives whether payment should stop.
 
 CRA calls only `civil-person/death-by-uin` and discloses the governed death
 status. SIPF calls only `pension-payment/by-pensioner-uin` and discloses active

home/e2e/home.test.ts

@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ test('problem-codes anchors resolve, including current Evidence authorization de
   await expect(page.locator('[id="malformed_request"]')).toBeVisible();
 });
 
-test('anatomy lists five Relay V2 projects and six authority Evidence cells with config links', async ({ page }) => {
+test('anatomy lists five Relay V2 projects and six authority Evidence gateways with config links', async ({ page }) => {
   await page.goto('/anatomy');
   await expect(page.locator('#relays .entity')).toHaveCount(5);
   for (const id of ['cra-evidence', 'nia-evidence', 'sro-evidence', 'mosd-programme-evidence', 'sipf-evidence', 'nagdi-evidence']) {
@@ -241,10 +241,10 @@ test('purpose lens: the live review reveals evidence and the wrong-purpose chall
   await page.goto('/');
 
   await expect(
-    page.locator('#proof .proof-grid > div').filter({ hasText: 'authority Evidence cells' }).locator('strong')
+    page.locator('#proof .proof-grid > div').filter({ hasText: 'authority Evidence gateways' }).locator('strong')
   ).toHaveText('6');
   await expect(
-    page.locator('#solmara-preview .country-facts > div').filter({ hasText: 'Evidence cells' }).locator('dd')
+    page.locator('#solmara-preview .country-facts > div').filter({ hasText: 'Evidence gateways' }).locator('dd')
   ).toHaveText('6');
 
   // The boundary challenge appears only after a successful live evidence run.

home/src/lib/components/ProofStrip.svelte

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
   <div class="content proof-grid">
     <div><strong>1</strong><span>synthetic country</span></div>
     <div><strong>{authorities ?? 'Unavailable'}</strong><span>live authorities</span></div>
-    <div><strong>{evidenceCells ?? 'Unavailable'}</strong><span>authority Evidence cells</span></div>
+    <div><strong>{evidenceCells ?? 'Unavailable'}</strong><span>authority Evidence gateways</span></div>
     <div><strong>{journeys ?? 'Unavailable'}</strong><span>guided policy journeys</span></div>
     <div><strong>0</strong><span>real resident records</span></div>
   </div>

home/src/lib/components/SolmaraPreview.svelte

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
       </p>
       <dl class="country-facts">
         <div><dt>Live authorities</dt><dd>{authorities ?? 'Unavailable'}</dd></div>
-        <div><dt>Evidence cells</dt><dd>{evidenceCells ?? 'Unavailable'}</dd></div>
+        <div><dt>Evidence gateways</dt><dd>{evidenceCells ?? 'Unavailable'}</dd></div>
         <div><dt>Real records</dt><dd>0</dd></div>
       </dl>
       <a class="button-link secondary-link" href="/country">Explore Solmara and its full synthetic cast</a>