Adom Bridge

Evidence from the fleet (read-only Get-NetFirewallRule for adom-bridge.exe, 2026-09-06):

• arav-rog: Inbound Allow, Public - John's click today, after I enabled the mesh there remotely.
• ConfRoomROG: Inbound Allow, Public - its mesh was on before today, so the prompt fired earlier and was answered; nobody remembered doing it.
• winvm (headless Azure VM): Inbound Block, Public - the prompt fired to an empty screen and Windows wrote a permanent block rule. winvm still works over the relay (outbound is never blocked) but no peer can open a direct inbound path to it until a human flips the rule in an elevated shell (Set-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'adom-bridge.exe' -Action Allow). ab must never do that itself (elevation is forbidden).

This is the exact silent failure the issue exists for: same network as ConfRoomROG, different outcome, purely because of who was at the keyboard when the listener first bound. The caption + mirror in (1)-(3) would have put the prompt in front of John on AdomLapper for both arav-rog and winvm. Also confirmed: a read-only desktop_find_window {titleContains:"Windows Security"} returned NO match on arav-rog while the dialog was visibly on screen, so the caption's dismiss logic cannot rely on plain window enumeration - needs verifying against UIA or the firewall rule appearing.

Shipped in 2.1.56 (whole fleet is on it now).

How it works:

• mesh::spawn_with_trigger(app, BindTrigger) is the single bind entry point. Boot re-binds are silent; a LocalUser (Settings toggle here) or Remote (a verb from another machine) enable draws an on-screen CAPTION via caption::show_local BEFORE the endpoint binds, so it is up when Windows pops the dialog. The caption explains what Windows is asking, that only machines signed into your own account can connect (TLS 1.3 + a per-machine ed25519 key), that every other listener stays on 127.0.0.1, and to click Allow and tick BOTH profiles (Cancel just blocks the mesh). It clears the instant the #32770 Windows Security dialog is gone (best-effort EnumWindows poll) and always self-clears within 60s, with an X, so it can never strand.
• A Remote enable (nobody at that keyboard) makes the caption name who turned it on and from where, and MANDATORY-mirrors a firewall-prompt notice to every same-account box: over the hc relay (the reliable channel, since that box's own mesh is only just binding) AND best-effort over the mesh, deduped by noticeId. On the other boxes it renders an INFORMATIONAL card in the permission stack (" is showing a firewall prompt for the Adom Mesh - go approve it there"), with one "Got it" button and no decision routed, because a human must be physically at that box. It shows in-window (not just a toast) so a toast-blocking box (Ray) still sees it.

Verified live on 2.1.56: turning the mesh on drew the mesh-firewall caption (confirmed via desktop_caption action:list). This is now the general rule for any Windows prompt ab can cause (documented in CLAUDE.md): explain it on the screen it appears on, and tell your other boxes.

Note the detection caveat you flagged: some Windows builds render that dialog on a surface EnumWindows cannot see, which is exactly why the caption also has a hard 60s cap and an X rather than relying on the poll.

Shipped in 2.1.56 (whole fleet is on it). A LocalUser or Remote mesh-enable draws an on-screen CAPTION before the endpoint binds (what Windows is asking; only your own signed-in machines can connect via TLS 1.3 + per-machine ed25519; every other listener stays on 127.0.0.1; click Allow + tick both; Cancel just blocks the mesh). It clears when the #32770 dialog is gone and self-clears within 60s with an X. A Remote enable also mirrors an informational firewall-prompt card to every same-account box over the relay AND mesh (go approve it there; cannot be approved remotely; shown in-window so a toast-blocker still sees it) and the caption names who/where. Verified live: mesh-firewall caption confirmed via desktop_caption action:list. Detection caveat you flagged is handled: some builds render the dialog where EnumWindows cannot see it, so the 60s cap + X are the fail-safe, not the poll.

2.1.58 (fleet is on it): polish on the mirrored notice card, all three caught by John in the 2.1.57 proof screenshot. The notice text now wraps as prose in the UI font (it was in the perm stack's monospace command box and split words mid-line); the panel's decision-button legend (Once/Deny/1h/24h/Auto, web grants, credential UAC) is hidden while only informational Got-it cards are showing; and a box no longer renders a notice about itself (the relay all-broadcast echoed the sender its own notice - the origin already has the on-screen caption). Verified on AdomLapper with a notice about arav-rog: displayed, prose-wrapped, no legend, ON ARAV-ROG chip; a notice about AdomLapper itself returned displayed:false.

Closing: shipped in 2.1.56 (caption drawn before the mesh bind + firewall-prompt card mirrored over mesh and relay), polish in 2.1.58 (prose wrap, legend hidden for info-only cards, no self-notice). Fleet is on 2.1.72 insiders; nothing left open in this thread.