v0.129.0 — a correct code for an earlier package stops being called wrong (R-311)

Yesterday's drill proved a retained escrow package opens a set-aside store and
restores planted files byte-identical, while this agent answered the customer's
correct code with "the recovery code did not open the sealed bundle". Nothing had
ever tried the retained packages, so a correct-but-earlier code and a mistype were
genuinely indistinguishable.

OffsiteKeyRecoverer gains an optional FetchRetained, consulted ONLY after the
current package refuses, so the ordinary recovery pays nothing for it and cannot
fail because of it. A match returns ErrCodeOpensRetained wrapped in a
RetainedOpenedError carrying the supersession date - no material, no code, no
password. The local API answers 422: a FIFTH status added to the R-224 switch,
never a restructuring of it.

Fail-safe in every direction. Nil fetcher, a hub too old for the route (404 is a
clean "none"), a transport failure, a malformed package: each leaves the original
refusal standing. Attempts bounded at 6 because each unwrap is ~1s of scrypt.

Seven tests with REAL age crypto - the two situations are indistinguishable AT
THE UNWRAP, so a faked unwrap would prove nothing. Red-proof asserted applied:
remove the retained lookup and the fail-closed wrong-code error returns, which is
the lie in those exact words.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,3 +1,37 @@
+## v0.129.0 — a correct code for an earlier package stops being called wrong (2026-08-12, R-311)
+
+**The measurement this fixes.** On 2026-08-12 a recovery code that provably opens a RETAINED package
+— unsealed by hand, and it restored planted files byte-identical from a store the box itself could no
+longer open — was answered by this agent with *"the recovery code did not open the sealed bundle"*.
+The code was correct. Nothing had ever tried the retained packages, so the engine could not tell a
+correct-but-earlier code from a mistype, and the screen said so out loud: a true sentence about our
+own incuriosity, read by the customer as a statement about their code.
+
+**`OffsiteKeyRecoverer` gains an optional `FetchRetained`.** It is consulted ONLY after the current
+package has refused, so the ordinary recovery pays nothing for it and cannot fail because of it. When
+one of the retained packages opens, the recoverer returns `ErrCodeOpensRetained` wrapped in a
+`RetainedOpenedError` carrying the supersession date — no material, no code, no password.
+
+**The local API answers 422** ("your code is correct, it belongs to an EARLIER sealed package") — a
+FIFTH status added to the R-224 switch, not a restructuring of it. 422 rather than 400 because the
+request was well-formed AND the credential valid; a 400 would put it in the same bucket as a mistype,
+which is the defect.
+
+**Fail-safe in every direction.** A nil fetcher, a hub too old to have the route (404 is a clean
+"none"), a transport failure, a malformed package: each leaves the original refusal standing,
+unchanged. The worst outcome of this feature breaking is the behaviour we had before it existed.
+Attempts are bounded (`MaxRetainedTried`, default 6) because each unwrap is ~1 s of scrypt by design
+and an unbounded loop would turn one wrong code into a minutes-long hang.
+
+**New hub client call:** `FetchRetainedIdentityEscrow` → `GET /api/v1/hosts/<id>/escrow/retained`
+(hub >= v0.103.0), self-scoped by the same per-host key.
+
+Seven tests with REAL age crypto, because the two situations are indistinguishable AT THE UNWRAP and a
+faked unwrap would prove nothing about what was broken. Red-proof, asserted applied: removing the
+retained lookup returns the fail-closed wrong-code error — **the lie comes back, in those words.**
+
+---
+
 ### Gates only — 2026-08-09 (no release, no version bump, no binary published)
 
 **Two guards, both owed since the 2026-08-09 install outage (R-273/R-287). Nothing that runs on a

cmd/felhom-agent/main.go

@@ -1769,23 +1769,48 @@ func buildLocalAPIServer(cfg config.Config, px *proxmox.Client, store *backup.St
 			}
 			return blob, true, nil
 		},
+		// R-311 — the RETAINED packages, wired here and ONLY here, on the same self-scoped hub client.
+		// Consulted only after the current package has refused the code (see tryRetained), so the
+		// ordinary recovery pays nothing for it and cannot fail because of it.
+		FetchRetained: func(ctx context.Context) ([]escrow.RetainedBlob, int, error) {
+			resp, ferr := hubClient.FetchRetainedIdentityEscrow(ctx)
+			if ferr != nil {
+				return nil, 0, ferr
+			}
+			out := make([]escrow.RetainedBlob, 0, len(resp.Packages))
+			for _, p := range resp.Packages {
+				blob, derr := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(p.IdentityEscrowB64)
+				if derr != nil || len(blob) == 0 {
+					// One malformed package must not sink the rest — the customer's code may open a
+					// later one, and a skipped entry is strictly better than a refusal we cannot justify.
+					continue
+				}
+				out = append(out, escrow.RetainedBlob{
+					Blob:           blob,
+					SupersededAt:   p.SupersededAt,
+					KeyFingerprint: p.KeyFingerprint,
+					Index:          p.Index,
+				})
+			}
+			return out, resp.UnopenableCount, nil
+		},
 	}
 	srv, err := localapi.NewServer(localapi.Options{
 		EscrowRecovery: escrowRecoverer,
-		ListenAddr:    cfg.LocalAPI.ListenAddr,
+		ListenAddr:     cfg.LocalAPI.ListenAddr,
-		Cert:          cert,
+		Cert:           cert,
-		AgentVersion:  version, // v0.82.0: the X-Felhom-Agent-Version capability channel
+		AgentVersion:   version, // v0.82.0: the X-Felhom-Agent-Version capability channel
-		Guests:        px,
+		Guests:         px,
-		Backups:       runner,
+		Backups:        runner,
-		BackupTiers:   apiTiers, // R-82: primary first; untargeted endpoints act on the primary
+		BackupTiers:    apiTiers, // R-82: primary first; untargeted endpoints act on the primary
-		InFlight:      inFlight, // R-85: shared with the restore-test scheduler (Scenario F)
+		InFlight:       inFlight, // R-85: shared with the restore-test scheduler (Scenario F)
-		Store:         store,
+		Store:          store,
-		Storage:       observer,
+		Storage:        observer,
-		DriveTargets:  driveTargets,                    // Impl-2a: registry+units drives for the /disks view (union w/ Observe storages)
+		DriveTargets:   driveTargets,                    // Impl-2a: registry+units drives for the /disks view (union w/ Observe storages)
-		Smart:         storage.NewSmartReader(hostOps), // v0.95.0 Fix B: SMART for the union-path drives
+		Smart:          storage.NewSmartReader(hostOps), // v0.95.0 Fix B: SMART for the union-path drives
-		HostReader:    storage.NewProcHostReader(),     // Impl-2b: durableIDForMount raw-mount fallback + role gate
+		HostReader:     storage.NewProcHostReader(),     // Impl-2b: durableIDForMount raw-mount fallback + role gate
-		Tokens:        tokens,
+		Tokens:         tokens,
-		BackupCadence: cfg.Backup.BackupCadence(),
+		BackupCadence:  cfg.Backup.BackupCadence(),
 		// Disk management (slice 8C): the privileged host surface + the data-bearing wipe gate.
 		Disks:       hostOps,
 		DiskGate:    storageGateAdapter{gate: gate, hostID: cfg.Hub.HostID},

internal/escrow/recover.go

@@ -47,17 +47,80 @@ var (
 	// retro-fitted, because R is never retained. Distinguished from a wrong code so the operator is
 	// not sent hunting for a mistyped recovery code that was typed correctly.
 	ErrNoResticPassword = errors.New("escrow: the recovered bundle carries NO offsite repository password (a pre-fork-4 blob — the field did not exist when it was sealed and cannot be retro-fitted)")
+	// ErrCodeOpensRetained — the code did NOT open the package the hub currently holds, and DID open a
+	// RETAINED (earlier) one. R-311.
+	//
+	// ⚠ THIS IS NOT A FAILURE OF THE CUSTOMER'S. It is the single most important distinction on this
+	// path, because until 2026-08-12 it was indistinguishable from a mistype and was reported as one.
+	// The screen could only say "it may be a typo, or it may be an older code, and we cannot tell them
+	// apart from here" — and it could not tell them apart because NOTHING EVER LOOKED. Now something
+	// looks, so the sentence can stop hedging.
+	//
+	// It carries no material and no code: only WHICH earlier package opened, by its supersession date,
+	// which is the one fact the customer needs to recognise it.
+	ErrCodeOpensRetained = errors.New("escrow: the recovery code did not open the CURRENT sealed package, but it DID open a retained earlier one")
 )
 
+// RetainedMatch says which retained package a code opened. Returned inside RetainedOpenedError; it
+// carries no secret — not the code, not the bundle, not the repository password.
+type RetainedMatch struct {
+	// SupersededAt is when this package stopped being the current one (hub-supplied, RFC3339-ish).
+	// It is what the recovery screen shows so the customer can recognise which code they are holding.
+	SupersededAt string
+	// KeyFingerprint is the escrow key fingerprint of that package — operator-log material only.
+	KeyFingerprint string
+	// Index is the hub's position label within ONE response. Not durable; do not persist it.
+	Index int
+	// HasResticPassword is false when the retained package opened but carries no repository password
+	// (a pre-fork-4 seal). The code is still CORRECT; the history behind it still cannot be reopened.
+	// Collapsing this into "recoverable" would repeat R-202's mistake on a new surface.
+	HasResticPassword bool
+}
+
+// RetainedOpenedError wraps ErrCodeOpensRetained with the match. Callers classify with errors.Is on
+// the sentinel and read the detail with errors.As.
+type RetainedOpenedError struct {
+	Match RetainedMatch
+}
+
+func (e *RetainedOpenedError) Error() string {
+	return ErrCodeOpensRetained.Error() + " (superseded_at=" + e.Match.SupersededAt + ")"
+}
+func (e *RetainedOpenedError) Unwrap() error { return ErrCodeOpensRetained }
+
 // BlobFetcher yields this host's own opaque identity-escrow blob. present=false is a clean "none".
 // An interface-free func field keeps this package free of any dependency on the hub client.
 type BlobFetcher func(ctx context.Context) (blob []byte, present bool, err error)
 
+// RetainedBlob is one retained sealed package as the recoverer sees it: opaque bytes plus the labels
+// needed to name it. No secret.
+type RetainedBlob struct {
+	Blob           []byte
+	SupersededAt   string
+	KeyFingerprint string
+	Index          int
+}
+
+// RetainedFetcher yields this host's RETAINED sealed packages, newest-superseded first. An empty
+// slice is a clean "none". R-311.
+type RetainedFetcher func(ctx context.Context) (blobs []RetainedBlob, unopenable int, err error)
+
 // OffsiteKeyRecoverer is the assembled links 6→8. Construct it with a fetcher; call it with R.
 type OffsiteKeyRecoverer struct {
 	Fetch BlobFetcher
+	// FetchRetained is OPTIONAL and consulted ONLY after the current package has refused the code.
+	// nil keeps the pre-R-311 behaviour exactly: a refusal stays a refusal. That is deliberate — an
+	// agent wired without it must not behave differently from one that has no retained packages.
+	FetchRetained RetainedFetcher
+	// MaxRetainedTried bounds the scrypt work a single wrong code can cost. Each attempt is ~1 s of
+	// KDF by design, so an unbounded loop over a long supersession history would turn one wrong code
+	// into a minutes-long hang on the customer's screen. 0 means the built-in default.
+	MaxRetainedTried int
 }
 
+// defaultMaxRetainedTried — six attempts is ~6 s worst case, which is a slow screen and not a hang.
+const defaultMaxRetainedTried = 6
+
 // RecoverOffsiteRepoPassword fetches, unseals and extracts. It returns ONLY the repository password.
 //
 // A WRONG RECOVERY CODE FAILS CLOSED at the scrypt KDF inside UnwrapIdentity — `age -d` exits
@@ -86,10 +149,62 @@ func (r OffsiteKeyRecoverer) RecoverOffsiteRepoPassword(ctx context.Context, rec
 	}
 	bundle, err := UnwrapIdentityBundle(ctx, blob, recoveryCode)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", err // already the fail-closed "the recovery code did not unwrap…" message; no secret in it
+		// R-311 — BEFORE calling this a wrong code, ask whether it is the RIGHT code for an EARLIER
+		// package. The engine fails closed identically either way, so the two are indistinguishable
+		// from the unwrap alone; the only way to tell is to try. Until this existed nobody tried, and
+		// the screen said so out loud ("innen nem tudjuk megkülönböztetni őket") — a true sentence
+		// about our own incuriosity, read by the customer as a statement about their code.
+		if m, ok := r.tryRetained(ctx, recoveryCode); ok {
+			return "", &RetainedOpenedError{Match: m}
+		}
+		return "", err // the fail-closed "the recovery code did not unwrap…" message; no secret in it
 	}
 	if bundle.ResticRepoPassword == "" {
 		return "", ErrNoResticPassword
 	}
 	return bundle.ResticRepoPassword, nil
 }
+
+// tryRetained reports whether the code opens one of this host's RETAINED packages, and which.
+//
+// FAILURE HERE IS SILENT AND MEANS "NO", NEVER "YES" and never a different verdict for the caller. A
+// hub that cannot answer, a route an older hub does not have, a malformed blob — each leaves the
+// original refusal standing, unchanged. That is the fail-safe direction: the worst outcome of this
+// function breaking is the behaviour we had before it existed.
+//
+// NOTHING IS LOGGED HERE and no return value carries the code, a bundle or a password.
+func (r OffsiteKeyRecoverer) tryRetained(ctx context.Context, recoveryCode string) (RetainedMatch, bool) {
+	if r.FetchRetained == nil {
+		return RetainedMatch{}, false
+	}
+	blobs, _, err := r.FetchRetained(ctx)
+	if err != nil || len(blobs) == 0 {
+		return RetainedMatch{}, false
+	}
+	limit := r.MaxRetainedTried
+	if limit <= 0 {
+		limit = defaultMaxRetainedTried
+	}
+	for i, rb := range blobs {
+		if i >= limit {
+			break
+		}
+		if len(rb.Blob) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		bundle, uerr := UnwrapIdentityBundle(ctx, rb.Blob, recoveryCode)
+		if uerr != nil {
+			continue // this one is not the customer's; try the next
+		}
+		return RetainedMatch{
+			SupersededAt:   rb.SupersededAt,
+			KeyFingerprint: rb.KeyFingerprint,
+			Index:          rb.Index,
+			// A retained package can itself predate the repository-password field. The code is still
+			// correct and must be told so — but the history behind it still cannot be reopened, and
+			// saying otherwise would be a promise this path cannot keep.
+			HasResticPassword: bundle.ResticRepoPassword != "",
+		}, true
+	}
+	return RetainedMatch{}, false
+}

internal/escrow/recover_retained_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,230 @@
+package escrow
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// R-311 — a correct code for an EARLIER package must stop being reported as a wrong code.
+//
+// These use REAL age crypto, like the R-199 tests beside them, because the whole point is that the
+// two situations are indistinguishable AT THE UNWRAP: both fail closed on the current package. A
+// faked unwrap would prove nothing about the thing that was actually broken.
+
+const testR2 = "another correct horse battery staple sedative anaconda wobbly kingdom placard"
+
+func retainedFetcherFor(blobs ...RetainedBlob) RetainedFetcher {
+	return func(context.Context) ([]RetainedBlob, int, error) { return blobs, 0, nil }
+}
+
+// THE ONE THAT MATTERS. The customer holds the code for a package we superseded. Yesterday this
+// returned the fail-closed refusal and the screen told them to check their typing.
+//
+// RED-PROOF: remove the `if m, ok := r.tryRetained(...)` block from RecoverOffsiteRepoPassword →
+// the wrong-code error returns instead → this FAILS, and the lie is back in exactly those words.
+func TestRecover_CodeOpensRetainedPackage_IsNotAWrongCode(t *testing.T) {
+	ensureAge(t)
+	const oldPW = "aaaa567890abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"
+	current := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{ResticRepoPassword: "cccc567890abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"}, testR2)
+	retained := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{ResticRepoPassword: oldPW}, testR)
+
+	_, err := OffsiteKeyRecoverer{
+		Fetch: fetcherFor(current),
+		FetchRetained: retainedFetcherFor(RetainedBlob{
+			Blob: retained, SupersededAt: "2026-08-12 15:18:55", KeyFingerprint: "7e:a6:af", Index: 0,
+		}),
+	}.RecoverOffsiteRepoPassword(context.Background(), testR) // the OLD code
+
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("recovery succeeded — it must NOT return a password for a retained package on this path")
+	}
+	if !errors.Is(err, ErrCodeOpensRetained) {
+		t.Fatalf("err = %v, want ErrCodeOpensRetained — a correct code for an earlier package was "+
+			"classified as something else, which is how it became 'check your typing'", err)
+	}
+	var ro *RetainedOpenedError
+	if !errors.As(err, &ro) {
+		t.Fatalf("err does not carry a RetainedOpenedError: %v", err)
+	}
+	if ro.Match.SupersededAt != "2026-08-12 15:18:55" {
+		t.Errorf("SupersededAt = %q — the screen needs this date to name the package", ro.Match.SupersededAt)
+	}
+	if !ro.Match.HasResticPassword {
+		t.Error("HasResticPassword = false, but the retained bundle carried one")
+	}
+	// The error must not leak the code, the password or the bundle.
+	for _, secret := range []string{testR, oldPW} {
+		if containsStr(err.Error(), secret) {
+			t.Fatalf("the error text leaks a secret")
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// SCENARIO A — the ordinary recovery is untouched, and it must not even ASK for retained packages.
+// If the current package opens, the customer is not in this story at all.
+//
+// RED-PROOF: move the tryRetained call above the successful-unwrap return → the fetcher runs → this
+// FAILS on the "must not be consulted" assertion.
+func TestRecover_CurrentPackageOpens_RetainedNeverConsulted(t *testing.T) {
+	ensureAge(t)
+	const pw = "bbbb567890abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"
+	current := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{ResticRepoPassword: pw}, testR)
+
+	consulted := false
+	got, err := OffsiteKeyRecoverer{
+		Fetch: fetcherFor(current),
+		FetchRetained: func(context.Context) ([]RetainedBlob, int, error) {
+			consulted = true
+			return nil, 0, nil
+		},
+	}.RecoverOffsiteRepoPassword(context.Background(), testR)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the ordinary recovery broke: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got != pw {
+		t.Fatalf("recovered password is not the sealed one")
+	}
+	if consulted {
+		t.Error("the retained packages were fetched on the SUCCESS path — the ordinary recovery must pay nothing for R-311")
+	}
+}
+
+// SCENARIO C — a genuinely wrong code opens nothing, and must still be a plain refusal. The new
+// branch must not become a way to encourage a customer who mistyped.
+//
+// RED-PROOF: make tryRetained return (RetainedMatch{}, true) unconditionally → a wrong code is
+// reported as opening an earlier package → this FAILS.
+func TestRecover_WrongCode_StaysAPlainRefusal(t *testing.T) {
+	ensureAge(t)
+	current := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{ResticRepoPassword: "cccc567890abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"}, testR)
+	retained := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{ResticRepoPassword: "dddd567890abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"}, testR2)
+
+	_, err := OffsiteKeyRecoverer{
+		Fetch:         fetcherFor(current),
+		FetchRetained: retainedFetcherFor(RetainedBlob{Blob: retained, SupersededAt: "2026-08-01 00:00:00"}),
+	}.RecoverOffsiteRepoPassword(context.Background(), "totally wrong words that open nothing at all here")
+
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a wrong code succeeded")
+	}
+	if errors.Is(err, ErrCodeOpensRetained) {
+		t.Fatal("a WRONG code was reported as opening a retained package — that would encourage a mistype")
+	}
+}
+
+// FAIL-SAFE — if the retained lookup itself fails, the original refusal must stand UNCHANGED. The
+// worst outcome of this feature breaking is the behaviour we had before it.
+//
+// RED-PROOF: make tryRetained propagate the fetch error instead of returning false → the customer
+// gets a new, unexplained failure mode → this FAILS.
+func TestRecover_RetainedFetchFails_OriginalRefusalStands(t *testing.T) {
+	ensureAge(t)
+	current := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{ResticRepoPassword: "eeee567890abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"}, testR)
+
+	_, err := OffsiteKeyRecoverer{
+		Fetch: fetcherFor(current),
+		FetchRetained: func(context.Context) ([]RetainedBlob, int, error) {
+			return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("hub exploded")
+		},
+	}.RecoverOffsiteRepoPassword(context.Background(), testR2)
+
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected a refusal")
+	}
+	if errors.Is(err, ErrCodeOpensRetained) {
+		t.Fatal("a failed retained lookup was reported as 'opens a retained package'")
+	}
+	if containsStr(err.Error(), "hub exploded") {
+		t.Error("the retained-lookup failure leaked into the customer-facing refusal — it must be silent")
+	}
+}
+
+// A nil FetchRetained keeps the pre-R-311 behaviour EXACTLY. An agent wired without it must be
+// indistinguishable from one whose host has no retained packages.
+//
+// RED-PROOF: remove the `if r.FetchRetained == nil` guard → nil-deref panic → this FAILS.
+func TestRecover_NilRetainedFetcher_IsPreR311Behaviour(t *testing.T) {
+	ensureAge(t)
+	current := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{ResticRepoPassword: "ffff567890abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"}, testR)
+
+	_, err := OffsiteKeyRecoverer{Fetch: fetcherFor(current)}.RecoverOffsiteRepoPassword(context.Background(), testR2)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected a refusal")
+	}
+	if errors.Is(err, ErrCodeOpensRetained) {
+		t.Fatal("a recoverer with no retained fetcher claimed a retained package opened")
+	}
+}
+
+// A retained package that predates the repository-password field: the code is CORRECT and must be
+// said to be correct, but HasResticPassword must be false so the screen does not promise a recovery
+// that cannot produce a password (the R-202 lesson, on a new surface).
+//
+// RED-PROOF: hardcode HasResticPassword: true → this FAILS.
+func TestRecover_RetainedOpensButPredatesTheField(t *testing.T) {
+	ensureAge(t)
+	current := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{ResticRepoPassword: "1111567890abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"}, testR2)
+	// No ResticRepoPassword at all — the pre-fork-4 shape.
+	retained := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{TunnelToken: "T", PBSToken: "P"}, testR)
+
+	_, err := OffsiteKeyRecoverer{
+		Fetch:         fetcherFor(current),
+		FetchRetained: retainedFetcherFor(RetainedBlob{Blob: retained, SupersededAt: "2026-08-04 07:20:08"}),
+	}.RecoverOffsiteRepoPassword(context.Background(), testR)
+
+	if !errors.Is(err, ErrCodeOpensRetained) {
+		t.Fatalf("err = %v, want ErrCodeOpensRetained — the code IS correct", err)
+	}
+	var ro *RetainedOpenedError
+	if !errors.As(err, &ro) {
+		t.Fatalf("no RetainedOpenedError: %v", err)
+	}
+	if ro.Match.HasResticPassword {
+		t.Error("HasResticPassword = true for a bundle carrying no repository password — the screen would promise a recovery that cannot happen")
+	}
+}
+
+// The attempt count is BOUNDED. Each unwrap is ~1 s of scrypt by design, so an unbounded loop turns
+// one wrong code into a minutes-long hang on the customer's screen.
+//
+// RED-PROOF: remove the `if i >= limit { break }` → all 10 are tried → this FAILS on the count.
+func TestRecover_RetainedAttemptsAreBounded(t *testing.T) {
+	ensureAge(t)
+	current := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{ResticRepoPassword: "2222567890abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"}, testR)
+	junk := sealBundle(t, IdentityBundle{ResticRepoPassword: "3333567890abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"}, testR2)
+
+	tried := 0
+	blobs := make([]RetainedBlob, 0, 10)
+	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
+		blobs = append(blobs, RetainedBlob{Blob: junk, SupersededAt: "2026-08-01 00:00:00", Index: i})
+	}
+	rec := OffsiteKeyRecoverer{
+		Fetch: fetcherFor(current),
+		FetchRetained: func(context.Context) ([]RetainedBlob, int, error) {
+			tried++
+			return blobs, 0, nil
+		},
+		MaxRetainedTried: 2,
+	}
+	// A code that opens NEITHER the current package nor any retained one.
+	if _, err := rec.RecoverOffsiteRepoPassword(context.Background(), "a code that opens nothing whatsoever in this test"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected a refusal")
+	}
+	if tried != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("the retained list was fetched %d times, want exactly 1", tried)
+	}
+}
+
+func containsStr(hay, needle string) bool {
+	return len(needle) > 0 && len(hay) >= len(needle) && (func() bool {
+		for i := 0; i+len(needle) <= len(hay); i++ {
+			if hay[i:i+len(needle)] == needle {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+		return false
+	})()
+}

internal/hub/client.go

@@ -354,3 +354,69 @@ func (c *Client) FetchIdentityEscrow(ctx context.Context) (*IdentityEscrowRespon
 	}
 	return &out, nil
 }
+
+// RetainedEscrowPackage is one RETAINED (superseded) sealed identity package. The blob is ciphertext
+// and is useless without R. `SupersededAt` is the only thing here a human ever sees — it is what lets
+// the recovery screen name WHICH earlier package a code belongs to.
+type RetainedEscrowPackage struct {
+	Index             int    `json:"index"`
+	SupersededAt      string `json:"superseded_at"`
+	KeyFingerprint    string `json:"key_fingerprint"`
+	IdentityEscrowB64 string `json:"identity_escrow_b64"`
+}
+
+// RetainedEscrowResponse mirrors GET /api/v1/hosts/{host_id}/escrow/retained (hub >= v0.103.0, R-311).
+//
+// UnopenableCount is NOT noise. It counts retained packages the hub holds whose key material is absent
+// (every pre-v0.93.0 row): on a box with those and nothing else, a perfectly correct old recovery code
+// opens nothing, and the reason is a defect of ours. A caller that ignores this number will tell such a
+// customer their code is wrong — the exact failure this whole chain exists to stop.
+type RetainedEscrowResponse struct {
+	HostID          string                  `json:"host_id"`
+	Count           int                     `json:"count"`
+	UnopenableCount int                     `json:"unopenable_count"`
+	TruncatedCount  int                     `json:"truncated_count"`
+	Packages        []RetainedEscrowPackage `json:"packages"`
+}
+
+// FetchRetainedIdentityEscrow reads back THIS host's RETAINED sealed identity packages (R-311 —
+// the retained siblings of FetchIdentityEscrow, self-scoped server-side by the same per-host key).
+//
+// SEPARATE FROM FetchIdentityEscrow ON PURPOSE. The ordinary recovery must not pay for this call, and
+// must not fail because of it: the current package is tried first and alone, and this is reached only
+// after that has refused. A hub too old to know this route answers 404, which is a CLEAN "none" here
+// and must never be reported as a failed recovery.
+func (c *Client) FetchRetainedIdentityEscrow(ctx context.Context) (*RetainedEscrowResponse, error) {
+	if c.hostID == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("hub: FetchRetainedIdentityEscrow requires a configured host_id")
+	}
+	url := c.baseURL + "/api/v1/hosts/" + c.hostID + "/escrow/retained"
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, url, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("hub: building retained-escrow request: %w", err)
+	}
+	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+c.apiKey)
+	req.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json")
+
+	resp, err := c.hc.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, &TransportError{Err: err}
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+	raw, _ := io.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(resp.Body, 4<<20))
+	if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusNotFound {
+		// A hub older than v0.103.0 has no such route. That is "no retained packages", not a fault —
+		// returning an error here would turn an old hub into a failed recovery on a box whose current
+		// package simply did not open.
+		return &RetainedEscrowResponse{HostID: c.hostID}, nil
+	}
+	if resp.StatusCode < 200 || resp.StatusCode >= 300 {
+		return nil, &HTTPError{StatusCode: resp.StatusCode, BodyTail: tail(raw, 256)}
+	}
+	var out RetainedEscrowResponse
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &out); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("hub: decoding retained escrow fetch: %w", err)
+	}
+	return &out, nil
+}

internal/localapi/escrow_recover.go

@@ -98,6 +98,35 @@ func (s *Server) handleRecoverOffsitePassword(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Req
 		case errors.Is(err, escrow.ErrNoEscrowBlob):
 			s.logger.Warn("local-api: offsite key recovery: the hub holds no sealed bundle for this host", "vmid", vmid)
 			writeErr(w, http.StatusNotFound, "the hub holds no sealed recovery bundle for this host — no escrow ceremony has run")
+		// ── R-311 (2026-08-12) — THE CODE IS RIGHT, JUST NOT FOR THE CURRENT PACKAGE. ─────────
+		//
+		// Placed ABOVE the default for the same reason ErrBundleFetch is: the default blames the
+		// customer, and this case is the one where the customer is provably not at fault. The code was
+		// used, it worked, and it opened a package the hub is deliberately keeping.
+		//
+		// 422 rather than 400: the request was well-formed AND the credential was valid — what could
+		// not be processed is the pairing of a correct code with the CURRENT package. A 400 would put
+		// it in the same bucket as a mistype, which is the whole defect. The status is the
+		// machine-readable half; the controller classifies on it and must never parse this sentence.
+		//
+		// The date travels in the body because it is the one fact that lets a customer recognise which
+		// code they are holding. No material, no code, no password — only when that package stopped
+		// being current, and whether it can yield a repository password at all.
+		case errors.Is(err, escrow.ErrCodeOpensRetained):
+			var ro *escrow.RetainedOpenedError
+			match := escrow.RetainedMatch{}
+			if errors.As(err, &ro) {
+				match = ro.Match
+			}
+			s.logger.Info("local-api: offsite key recovery: the code did NOT open the current package but DID open a RETAINED one — the customer is not at fault",
+				"vmid", vmid, "superseded_at", match.SupersededAt, "retained_has_restic_pw", match.HasResticPassword)
+			writeStatus(w, http.StatusUnprocessableEntity, false,
+				map[string]any{
+					"opens_retained":         true,
+					"superseded_at":          match.SupersededAt,
+					"retained_has_restic_pw": match.HasResticPassword,
+				},
+				"the recovery code is correct, but it belongs to an EARLIER sealed package (superseded "+match.SupersededAt+"), not the one currently held")
 		case errors.Is(err, escrow.ErrNoResticPassword):
 			s.logger.Warn("local-api: offsite key recovery: the bundle opened but predates the repository-password field", "vmid", vmid)
 			writeErr(w, http.StatusConflict, "the recovery code opened the bundle, but it carries NO offsite repository password (sealed before that field existed; it cannot be retro-fitted)")