diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index bec4b02..17e4f8c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,31 @@
+## v0.143.0 — the config bundle: a signed route for a box's root-owned files (R-840, decision 96) (2026-10-04)
+
+Released by `scripts/release-agent.sh`: binary sha256 `41c0d3060013dfda795262147454248149bee0888c0935170fdb85de6e7a35da`,
+config bundle `felhom-config-bundle.json` sha256 `8d7273cf5313ef62b867cb6f831c631923a436452d6f90b8ff7f0771170396ba`.
+
+- **The bundle.** Every root-owned file the installer's step 5 writes (sudoers ×2, the five wrappers, the crash guard
+  and its units, the agent and rollback units, the start-limit drop-in, the mgmt watchdog, the OOB belt's files) as ONE
+  reproducible JSON file, built by `scripts/build-config-bundle.py` from `BUNDLE_FILES` in `configs/felhom-os-apply`
+  (one table) and published beside the binary. The installer (1.31.0) installs the same file.
+- **The route.** A signed `agent_config_update` {agent_version, bundle_sha256} (`felhom-opsign -op agent_config_update
+  -bundle-sha256 …`). The agent is the courier (downloads, checks the sha, hands over); `felhom-os-apply` mode `bundle`
+  verifies it ITSELF: the operator signature against the root-owned `/etc/felhom/operator-signers` (or, when that file
+  is missing, ONLY the installer's pinned key, after which it creates the file with exactly that key), the host binding,
+  the window, its own nonce; the bundle sha; every path in `BUNDLE_FILES` (R16) and never a trust file (R17); every
+  content check before the first write (visudo, sh/bash -n, python, unit sections, the RuntimeDirectory guard, User=,
+  nft -c, and that the route itself survives). Atomic per file, previous copies kept under
+  `/var/lib/felhom-os-apply/bundle-prev/`; a self-check after (visudo -c, `sudo -l` lists the route, the new wrapper's
+  `--self-check`, the self-update wrapper's usage, the crash guard's status = kernel.panic); any failure puts every
+  previous copy back. A newly installed crash guard is started (`enable --now`: kernel.panic for this boot, no reboot).
+  Record `/etc/felhom/config-bundle.json`; the agent reports it as `system.config_bundle`, the facts mode adds drift.
+- **Bootstrap.** A box whose `felhom-os-apply` predates 0.143.0 cannot take the first bundle by the route (nothing on it
+  can write a root file from a signed job): `felhom.eu/scripts/felhom-bundle-bootstrap.sh` is the one by-hand step.
+- **`build-golden.sh` 3.2.0** (not part of the binary): `GOLDEN_GUEST_PKGS` brings the template to exactly the
+  approved guest release (only installed packages, never newer, never a removal or a new package) and prints the
+  first-night count.
+- Tests: `configs/test_felhom_config_bundle.py` (43; 22 of 22 mutants red), `internal/osupdate/bundle_test.go`,
+  `internal/hub/bundle_record_test.go`. Live: `felhom.eu/documentation/audits/r840-config-bundle-2026-10-04/partB/`.
+
 ## v0.142.1 — a Docker step no longer leaves the controller and traefik blind (R-858, `09` decision 95)
 
 > **RELEASED 2026-10-04** by `scripts/release-agent.sh` — tag `v0.142.1` (`4950030`), sha256
diff --git a/configs/build-golden.sh b/configs/build-golden.sh
index 1128186..6afd5c0 100644
--- a/configs/build-golden.sh
+++ b/configs/build-golden.sh
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 # Script provenance — logged into every bake transcript next to the baked controller tag, so an
 # archive can always be traced to the script that produced it. Bump on any behavior change.
-GOLDEN_SCRIPT_VERSION="3.1.0"
+GOLDEN_SCRIPT_VERSION="3.2.0"
 
 VMID="${1:-9100}"
 TEMPLATE="${2:-local:vztmpl/debian-13-standard_13.1-2_amd64.tar.zst}"
@@ -137,6 +137,48 @@ pct exec "$VMID" -- env GOLDEN_DOCKER_PKGS="$GOLDEN_DOCKER_PKGS" bash -c '
   fi
   dpkg-query -W containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-ce docker-ce-cli docker-ce-rootless-extras docker-compose-plugin 2>/dev/null | sed "s/^/  installed: /"
 '
+# v3.2.0 (Part F of the R-840 brief, `11` §5.3): GOLDEN_GUEST_PKGS = the newest APPROVED guest release, as
+# "name=version …" (the hub's os_releases row for layer guest, IN FORCE — never a cancelled test approval). The bake
+# brings every package the template HAS to exactly that version, under felhom-os-apply's rules: never a package the
+# template lacks (--only-upgrade), never newer than approved, never a removal or a new package (a simulation is checked
+# first and the bake FAILS on either). Empty = no approved guest release in force: the template's versions stay, and
+# the box's first night installs whatever release is approved then. Either way the bake PRINTS the first-night count:
+# how many installed packages are older than the approved version (target 0).
+GOLDEN_GUEST_PKGS="${GOLDEN_GUEST_PKGS:-}"
+pct exec "$VMID" -- env GOLDEN_GUEST_PKGS="$GOLDEN_GUEST_PKGS" bash -c '
+  set -e
+  export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+  if [ -z "$GOLDEN_GUEST_PKGS" ]; then
+    echo "[golden] no approved guest release given - the template versions stay; first-night count vs an approved release: n/a"
+    echo "[golden] pending Debian upgrades in the baked guest (what a FUTURE approval may bring): $(apt list --upgradable 2>/dev/null | grep -c /)"
+    exit 0
+  fi
+  want=""
+  for nv in $GOLDEN_GUEST_PKGS; do
+    n=${nv%%=*}; v=${nv#*=}
+    cur=$(dpkg-query -W -f="\${Version}" "$n" 2>/dev/null) || continue           # not in the template: never added
+    dpkg --compare-versions "$cur" lt "$v" && want="$want $n=$v"
+  done
+  if [ -n "$want" ]; then
+    sim=$(apt-get -s install --only-upgrade -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold $want)
+    if echo "$sim" | grep -q "^Remv "; then echo "[golden] FATAL: the approved guest set would REMOVE a package"; echo "$sim" | grep "^Remv "; exit 1; fi
+    for p in $(echo "$sim" | awk "/^Inst /{print \$2}"); do
+      dpkg-query -W "$p" >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "[golden] FATAL: the approved guest set would ADD $p - not in the template"; exit 1; }
+    done
+    apt-get install -y -qq --only-upgrade -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confdef $want >/dev/null
+    echo "[golden] approved guest release installed: $(echo $want | wc -w) package(s) brought to the approved version"
+  else
+    echo "[golden] approved guest release: the template already runs every approved version"
+  fi
+  left=0
+  for nv in $GOLDEN_GUEST_PKGS; do
+    n=${nv%%=*}; v=${nv#*=}
+    cur=$(dpkg-query -W -f="\${Version}" "$n" 2>/dev/null) || continue
+    dpkg --compare-versions "$cur" lt "$v" && { left=$((left+1)); echo "  still older: $n $cur < $v"; }
+  done
+  echo "[golden] first-night count vs the approved guest release: $left (target 0)"
+  [ "$left" -eq 0 ] || { echo "[golden] FATAL: $left package(s) stayed older than the approved release"; exit 1; }
+'
 echo "[golden] baking daemon.json: classic overlay2 driver (containerd-snapshotter OFF) + log rotation …"
 # containerd-snapshotter (Docker 28+/29 default) keeps the IMAGE content store under
 # /var/lib/containerd — which is NOT /var/lib/docker, so it would stay on the OS rootfs and the split