release 2026.08.23.03

Roles become a table and localization phase 0 lands. Both groundwork; nothing in
the UI changes and nothing reads the new table yet.

Schema change, additive only — the roles table is new and no constraint is added
to an existing column, so it cannot fail on existing data. postdb:push seeds it.
No dependency change; the two lockfile lines are the local i18n workspace being
declared as a dependency of officerdev.

The plan names the check that matters: four rows in roles, per host, by query —
db:push can fail and exit 0.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

bun.lock

@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@
         "dotenv": "^16.4.7",
         "embla-carousel-react": "^8.5.1",
         "hooks": "*",
+        "i18n": "*",
         "input-otp": "^1.4.1",
         "lucide-react": "^0.468.0",
         "next-themes": "^0.4.4",
@@ -271,6 +272,7 @@
       "version": "0.0.1",
       "dependencies": {
         "hooks": "workspace:*",
+        "i18n": "workspace:*",
         "state": "workspace:*",
         "widgets": "workspace:*",
       },

deploy/2026.08.23.02.report.md

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# 2026.08.23.02 — deploy report
+
+**5 of 5 target hosts succeeded.** Two hosts were not targets: `officer-dev` (the rollout ran from it)
+and `edge-pertento-bridge` (deliberately skipped in `docs/servers.md`).
+
+Every target went the same way, in the plan's order: `git fetch origin --tags`, `git merge --ff-only
+deploy/2026.08.23.02`, `bun db:push`, `bun run plugins:update`, `pm2 restart officer`. No tree was dirty
+in tracked files, so no host was skipped for that. Every host fast-forwarded cleanly to
+`0a8fe1c2` — the tag commit, and exactly that commit on all five.
+
+The tag and `package.json` agree (`2026.08.23.02`), and the plan file was present at the tag.
+
+## Per host
+
+| Host                         | HEAD before | HEAD after | db:push | plugins:update | `officer` restart_time | Result  |
+| ---------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------- | -------------- | ---------------------- | ------- |
+| `alpha`                      | `e6f1388a`  | `0a8fe1c2` | applied | 12/12 in 47s   | 67 → 68, online        | ok      |
+| `fofos`                      | `e6f1388a`  | `0a8fe1c2` | applied | 1/1 in 7s      | 21 → 22, online        | ok      |
+| `macbookpro`                 | `b22e9d86`  | `0a8fe1c2` | applied | no plugins     | 8 → 9, online          | ok      |
+| `production-pertento-bridge` | `68d60e40`  | `0a8fe1c2` | applied | 1/1 in 5s      | 0 → 1, online          | ok      |
+| `deadpool-rezio-bridge`      | `e6f1388a`  | `0a8fe1c2` | applied | 2/2 in 7s      | 6 → 7, online          | ok      |
+| `officer-dev`                | —           | —          | —       | —              | —                      | SKIPPED |
+| `edge-pertento-bridge`       | —           | —          | —       | —              | —                      | SKIPPED |
+
+`bun db:push` reported `Changes applied` on all five. It prompted for nothing — `sendoff_devices` and
+`sendoff_senders` are new tables, so the diff was additive.
+
+## What restarted, beyond what the plan asked for
+
+The plan named `officer` only, and `officer` is the only process this deploy restarted deliberately.
+`bun run plugins:update` restarts each plugin's own sidecar as it goes — that is the script's behaviour,
+not a fault, and it is the larger part of what moved:
+
+- `alpha` — twelve plugin sidecars bounced during the plugins step (atelier, bitcoin-wallet, email,
+  gitea, invoices, jellyfin, music, offscale, photos, soulseek, transmission, vault).
+- `fofos` — one (`officer-gitea`).
+- `production-pertento-bridge` — one (`officer-gitea`).
+- `deadpool-rezio-bridge` — two (`officer-email`, `officer-offscale`).
+- `macbookpro` — none; no plugins are installed there.
+
+After each restart, `pm2 jlist` showed `officer` `online` with `restart_time` incremented, and no process
+on any host was `errored`.
+
+## Hosts the plan flagged
+
+- **`production-pertento-bridge`** was one release behind (`68d60e40`, which is `deploy/2026.08.22.02`)
+  and fast-forwarded past `deploy/2026.08.23.01` to this tag in one step. Its `known_hosts` entry was
+  absent as expected; the first connection pinned the ED25519 key it offered. Expected, per the plan.
+- **`edge-pertento-bridge`** was not contacted at all. Nothing was spent on it.
+- **`macbookpro`** was awake and needed the documented PATH append (`/opt/homebrew/bin`) for the `bun`
+  steps, with `pm2` run separately through `$SHELL -ic`.
+
+## Things worth knowing, none of them failures
+
+- `fofos` carries one untracked file, `scripts/chk.ts`. A note, not a skip — a fast-forward cannot touch
+  it, and it was left alone.
+- `production-pertento-bridge` prints an nvm/`.npmrc` `globalconfig` warning before every command run
+  through `$SHELL -ic`. It is noise; every command it prefixed succeeded.
+- `macbookpro` prints `command not found: starship` on stderr from `.zshrc`. Harmless, but it corrupts
+  `pm2 jlist` output if stderr is merged into stdout — read that host's JSON with `2>/dev/null`.
+
+## What was not done
+
+- **`officer-dev` was not deployed.** Its checkout is already at `0a8fe1c2` (the release was cut here),
+  but nothing was pulled, no schema was pushed, no plugin was updated and no process was restarted. The
+  rollout ran from this machine, and restarting `officer` here ends the agent doing it. That host needs
+  a deliberate `bun db:push`, `bun run plugins:update` and `pm2 restart officer` from the owner before
+  `/sendoff` will work on it — the schema change means the missing `bun db:push` is not cosmetic.
+- No host got `bun install`. The plan forbade it: `bun.lock` is unchanged across this release.

deploy/2026.08.23.03.md

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# 2026.08.23.03
+
+Roles become a table, and the localization infrastructure lands. Both are groundwork — nothing in the UI
+changes and nothing reads the new table yet.
+
+**SCHEMA CHANGE.** `bun db:push` is a step, and `postdb:push` now seeds the new table automatically. The
+`roles` table is new. Additive only: no constraint is added to an existing column, so this cannot fail on
+existing data.
+
+**No dependency change.** `bun.lock` gained two lines and they are the local `i18n` workspace package being
+declared as a dependency of `officerdev` — a workspace path, not a registry fetch. **Do not run
+`bun install`.**
+
+## What is in it
+
+- **`roles` is a table**, seeded with the four the platform already had, each marked `isSystem` because the
+  code names it: `rolePermitsDevTools()` tests for `Developer`, bootstrap writes `Super Admin`, `users.role`
+  defaults to `Member`. Nothing reads the table yet — `USER_ROLES` is still the type and `authorize.ts` is
+  untouched. **There is deliberately no foreign key on `users.role`**; that change cannot go through
+  `db:push` and is a later release.
+- **The seed runs from `postdb:push`**, so a host gets the four rows on its next schema push with no extra
+  step here. It never overwrites an existing row.
+- **Localization phase 0** — plural selection through `Intl.PluralRules`, a `useFormat()` hook for dates and
+  numbers, three namespaced catalogs deep-merged at the bridge, `dir` on `<html>`, and key-parity tests that
+  fail the build on a missing key. The language picker now offers only the two catalogs that exist rather
+  than twenty codes, eighteen of which silently rendered English. Stored bare codes widen on read
+  (`en` → `en-GB`), with no database migration.
+- **SendOff's folder name is served rather than derived** — `/sendoff/targets` carries `displayName` and
+  `myFolder` from the same helper the writer uses, so a picker cannot name a folder the writer will not
+  create.
+
+## Every host
+
+1. `git fetch origin --tags` then `git merge --ff-only deploy/2026.08.23.03`
+2. **`bun db:push`** — and per the procedure, **verify by query, not by exit code.** Check that `roles`
+   exists and holds four rows on that host. `db:push` can fail and still exit 0.
+3. `bun run plugins:update`
+4. `pm2 restart officer`
+
+`officer` only. Step 3 restarts each plugin's own sidecar; that is the script's behaviour and belongs in
+the report.
+
+**`macbookpro`:** append `/opt/homebrew/bin` to PATH for the `bun` commands, run `pm2` separately.
+
+## The check that matters this release
+
+```sql
+select count(*) from roles;   -- expect 4
+```
+
+Four rows named `Super Admin`, `Admin`, `Developer`, `Member`. If a host shows the table but zero rows, the
+`postdb:push` hook did not run — report it as a failure for that host rather than as a success, and say so
+per host in the report.
+
+No direct SQL is needed and none is authorised for this release.
+
+## Hosts to expect trouble from
+
+- **`edge-pertento-bridge`** — skipped, per `docs/servers.md`. Name it and spend nothing on it.
+- **`production-pertento-bridge`** — came back last release after two behind. Nothing special expected.
+
+## `officer-dev` — skip it
+
+The rollout runs from here. It already holds the release and the four rows, verified locally.

docs/localization.md

@@ -28,13 +28,13 @@ the server does instead, which is the one decision that reaches outside this bou
 There is already an i18n system. It is small, hand-rolled, has no npm dependency, and it works. It is
 also about **5% deployed**, and that gap is the whole job.
 
-| | |
-| --- | --- |
-| `src/workspaces/i18n/` | the package: `I18nProvider`, `useTranslation`, `resolveKey`, `interpolate` |
-| `src/apps/officer-web/lib/i18n.ts` | a typed wrapper binding keys to `en.json` |
-| `src/apps/officer-web/lib/I18nBridge.tsx` | reads `settings.languages.default`, feeds the provider |
-| `src/apps/officer-web/locales/` | `en.json` and `pt.json` — **46 keys each, in sync** |
-| components actually using it | **3** — `UserMenu`, `Languages`, `ChangePassword` |
+|                                           |                                                                            |
+| ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `src/workspaces/i18n/`                    | the package: `I18nProvider`, `useTranslation`, `resolveKey`, `interpolate` |
+| `src/apps/officer-web/lib/i18n.ts`        | a typed wrapper binding keys to `en.json`                                  |
+| `src/apps/officer-web/lib/I18nBridge.tsx` | reads `settings.languages.default`, feeds the provider                     |
+| `src/apps/officer-web/locales/`           | `en.json` and `pt.json` — **46 keys each, in sync**                        |
+| components actually using it              | **3** — `UserMenu`, `Languages`, `ChangePassword`                          |
 
 What it already does well, and which this plan keeps: dot-path lookup, `{{param}}` interpolation,
 fallback to `en`, and **type-safe keys** via `TranslationKeys<typeof en>` — a wrong key is a
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ typecheck failure, which is worth more than it sounds when one agent is editing
 1. **No plural rules.** `1 file` / `2 files` has no expression. `Intl.PluralRules` is built into the
    runtime and unused.
 2. **No locale-aware dates or numbers.** ~23 `toLocaleDateString/TimeString/String()` call sites use
-   the *browser's* locale, not the user's chosen one, so a Portuguese UI shows American dates.
+   the _browser's_ locale, not the user's chosen one, so a Portuguese UI shows American dates.
 3. **No fallback chain.** `resolveKey` falls back to `en` and nothing else, so `pt-BR` cannot inherit
    from `pt`.
 4. **One catalog, one workspace.** `locales/` lives inside `officer-web`. The 213 panel files in
@@ -59,12 +59,12 @@ typecheck failure, which is worth more than it sounds when one agent is editing
 
 Measured, not guessed — `bun scripts/i18n/scan-hardcoded.ts`:
 
-| area | files | occurrences |
-| --- | --- | --- |
-| `officer-web` (shell) | 132 | 556 |
-| `officerdev` (panels) | 213 | 567 |
-| shared `components` | 91 | 47 |
-| **total** | **436** | **1170** |
+| area                  | files   | occurrences |
+| --------------------- | ------- | ----------- |
+| `officer-web` (shell) | 132     | 556         |
+| `officerdev` (panels) | 213     | 567         |
+| shared `components`   | 91      | 47          |
+| **total**             | **436** | **1170**    |
 
 **884 distinct strings**, of which **88 need interpolation**. Against 46 keys today.
 
@@ -101,29 +101,46 @@ precise to quote. Prose drifts; a code does not. And the server stops needing to
 refusal is deliberately vague, the code has to stay equally vague. `officer-secret-store` returns a
 byte-identical `403` for "no such app" and "no grant" precisely so a caller cannot enumerate what
 exists; splitting that into `APP_UNKNOWN` and `GRANT_MISSING` would hand back the enumeration oracle
-the prose was careful not to be. When in doubt, one code for one *response*, not one per branch.
+the prose was careful not to be. When in doubt, one code for one _response_, not one per branch.
 
-### D2. Regional locales, BCP 47, with fallback chains
+### D2. Regional locales, BCP 47, and every catalog is complete
 
-`pt-PT`, `pt-BR`, `en-GB`, `en-US` — not bare `pt` and `en`. Portuguese is the case that forces it,
-and it is the owner's own language, so getting it wrong is felt immediately.
+`pt-PT`, `pt-BR`, `en-GB`, `en-US` — not bare `pt` and `en`. Portuguese is the case that forces it, and
+it is the owner's own language, so getting it wrong is felt immediately.
 
-Resolution walks a chain and stops at the first hit:
+**Every locale ships a COMPLETE catalog. There is no regional inheritance and no overlay.** A file holds
+every key the UI has, translated for that locale, or it does not ship.
 
-```
-pt-BR  →  pt  →  en
-en-GB  →  en
-```
+This reverses an earlier version of this decision, which had `pt-BR` inherit from `pt` so a base catalog
+carried the shared bulk and a regional file carried only the differences. That is the conventional design
+and it was rejected for a product reason that outranks the engineering one:
 
-So a **base catalog carries the shared bulk and a regional overlay carries only the differences.**
-`pt.json` holds everything both Portugueses agree on; `pt-BR.json` holds only what Brazil says
-differently. Two near-identical full catalogs would drift within a month.
+**A missing European Portuguese key would have fallen through to Brazilian.** European and Brazilian
+Portuguese differ most in exactly the vocabulary this UI is full of — technical terms — and the platform is
+being sold into the European Portuguese market first. So the failure mode of an overlay is a Portuguese
+reader getting Brazilian phrasing on whichever strings nobody remembered to override, silently, and with no
+signal that it happened. Owner's call, and it is the right one: a reader must never be served a neighbouring
+variant's words.
+
+The engineering objection to full catalogs was drift — two near-identical files diverging within a month.
+That is answered by making the **key-parity test load-bearing** rather than advisory (see Tooling): a locale
+missing a key that `en` has fails the build, so an incomplete catalog cannot ship. Completeness is enforced
+by the test rather than by a fallback quietly papering over a gap.
+
+It is also less code. `resolveKey` looks in the active locale and then, only if the key is genuinely absent,
+in `en` — which per D8 is a bug the parity test should already have caught. There is no chain to walk, no
+base-versus-overlay merge order, and no question about which file a given string lives in.
 
 `Intl` takes BCP 47 tags natively, so dates, numbers and plurals come out right with no extra work.
 
-**Migration:** `settings.languages.default` stores bare codes today (`pt`). The picker must move to
-regional tags, and stored values need a one-time widening (`pt` → `pt-PT`, `en` → `en-GB`). Prefer
-widening on read over a database migration — a stale bare code should resolve, not fail.
+**Migration:** `settings.languages.default` stores bare codes today (`pt`). The picker must move to regional
+tags, and stored values need a one-time widening (`pt` → `pt-PT`, `en` → `en-GB`). Prefer widening on read
+over a database migration — a stale bare code should resolve, not fail.
+
+**Consequence for translation work:** a new locale is a whole catalog, not a diff. Machine-translate the
+full file and have it reviewed, rather than hand-writing overrides against a base. For `pt-PT` and `pt-BR`
+that means two complete passes, reviewed separately, because the whole point is that neither borrows from
+the other.
 
 ### D3. RTL — prepare, do not ship
 
@@ -148,7 +165,7 @@ The gap is smaller than it looks, because the hard parts are in the runtime alre
 `Intl.DateTimeFormat`, `Intl.NumberFormat`, `Intl.RelativeTimeFormat`. What is missing is roughly 150
 lines of glue, listed in "What it cannot do yet".
 
-Revisit this only if message *formatting* gets genuinely complex — nested selects, gendered forms.
+Revisit this only if message _formatting_ gets genuinely complex — nested selects, gendered forms.
 ICU MessageFormat is a real specification and reimplementing it would be the wrong kind of ambition.
 
 ### D5. Keys, not English source text
@@ -223,7 +240,7 @@ app.errors.MINESWEEPER_NOT_RUNNING
 - `namespace` — `app` / `panel` / `ui`, per D6.
 - `area` — the route or panel it belongs to; matches the directory.
 - `component` — the file, lowercased.
-- `element` — what it *is*: `title`, `description`, `placeholder`, `confirmLabel`, `emptyState`.
+- `element` — what it _is_: `title`, `description`, `placeholder`, `confirmLabel`, `emptyState`.
 
 Rules that keep 1200 keys navigable:
 
@@ -245,7 +262,7 @@ Getting this wrong is worse than missing a string, because it corrupts data or b
 
 - **Agent and chat output.** Whatever Claude or opencode wrote. It is content.
 - **User content** — file names, paths, terminal output, code, commit messages, note bodies.
-- **Identifiers that cross a boundary** — route paths, permission keys (`registry.ts`), error *codes*
+- **Identifiers that cross a boundary** — route paths, permission keys (`registry.ts`), error _codes_
   (the code is the key; its message is what gets translated), app ids, sidecar names, PM2 process
   names, database values.
 - **Log lines and thrown `Error` messages** that are not rendered to a user. They are for whoever is
@@ -304,9 +321,13 @@ Without these, 1200 keys rot. All three are small and belong in phase 0.
 hardcoded string by area and file. It is how the numbers above were produced, and it is the progress
 meter: the count goes down as work lands.
 
-**A key-parity test.** For each shipped locale, every key that `en` has must resolve through the
-chain. Fails the build on a gap, the same way `bun docs:check` fails on a stale number. This is the
-one guard that stops a locale silently degrading into English.
+**A key-parity test — and per D2 this is now load-bearing, not a nicety.** For each shipped locale, every
+key that `en` has must be present IN THAT LOCALE'S OWN FILE. Fails the build on a gap, the same way
+`bun docs:check` fails on a stale number.
+
+With full catalogs and no overlays, this test is the only thing standing between "complete translation" and
+"silently English in patches". It replaces the fallback that used to hide a gap, so it has to be as
+unavoidable as the typecheck: a missing key is not a warning, it is a red build.
 
 **A no-new-hardcoded-strings check.** Once an area reaches zero, add it to an allow-list the scanner
 enforces, so the next feature cannot reintroduce debt. Add this per area as it completes — enabling
@@ -339,7 +360,7 @@ else will ever notice.
    obvious first pass. Any locale beyond Portuguese needs an answer to this before it is offered.
 3. **Plugin frontends** are out of scope and will need a catalog-merging contract in the plugin
    manifest. Their strings are not counted above.
-4. **The `translateTo` setting already in `settings.languages`** is about translating *content*, not
+4. **The `translateTo` setting already in `settings.languages`** is about translating _content_, not
    the UI. It is a different feature that happens to sit in the same object — do not conflate them.
 5. **Does a member see the owner's locale anywhere?** Any server-rendered or cached string shared
    between accounts needs a locale decision. D1 mostly removes this by removing server prose.

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "officer",
-  "version": "2026.08.23.02",
+  "version": "2026.08.23.03",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "workspaces": [
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
     "build:dashboard": "bun run ./scripts/build/dashboard.ts",
     "db:gen": "cd src/databases/officer_db && bun run generate",
     "db:push": "bun run scripts/gen-plugin-schemas.ts && cd src/databases/officer_db && bun run push",
-    "postdb:push": "bun run --env-file=.env scripts/backfill-session-models.ts",
+    "postdb:push": "bun run --env-file=.env scripts/backfill-session-models.ts && bun run --env-file=.env scripts/seed-roles.ts",
     "db:migrate": "cd src/databases/officer_db && bun run migrate",
     "dev:emailer": "cd src/workspaces/emailer && bun run dev",
     "format": "{ git diff --name-only HEAD -- 'src/**/*.ts' 'src/**/*.tsx'; git ls-files --others --exclude-standard -- 'src/**/*.ts' 'src/**/*.tsx'; } | xargs -r prettier --write",

prompts/deploy-commander.md

@@ -192,6 +192,51 @@ assemble at the end from memory is a report that will be wrong about the host th
 If a host fails, **continue to the next one**. A half-rolled-out release that is honestly reported beats
 one that stopped in the middle and said nothing about the four hosts it never reached.
 
+### Schema changes, and why `db:push` cannot be trusted
+
+**`drizzle-kit push` can fail and still exit 0.** Verified on 2026-08-23 against a scratch database: a
+change that violated a foreign key printed the Postgres error, created part of the change, left the rest
+undone, and returned zero. `bun db:push` wraps it, so a plan step that reads `bun db:push` can report
+success while the schema is half-applied.
+
+So on any release whose plan says the schema changed:
+
+**Never take the exit code as the answer. Check the database.** Query for the specific thing the plan
+introduced — the table, the column — on that host, against that host's own database. `Changes applied` on
+stdout is not evidence, and neither is exit 0. A report that says "schema ✓" without a query behind it is
+a guess.
+
+**Some changes cannot go through `db:push` at all, and the plan should say so.** The shape that fails is
+create-then-constrain: a new table plus a foreign key onto it from an existing column. `push` creates the
+table empty and adds the constraint in the same run, so every existing row violates it. There is no
+ordering of `push` invocations that fixes this, because the seed has to happen between the two halves.
+
+**When the plan says the schema needs direct SQL — last resort, and only when the plan says it.**
+
+This is allowed and it is not a licence to improvise. The rules, in order:
+
+1. **The Drizzle schema is the source of truth, always.** The SQL you run exists to make the database match
+   what the schema code already says. If you find yourself writing SQL the schema does not describe, stop —
+   that is a code change and it is not yours to make on five production hosts at 3am.
+2. **The plan must contain the exact SQL.** Written by whoever cut the release, reviewed before the tag.
+   Do not compose it yourself from the diff, and do not adapt it per host: same statements, every host, or
+   the fleet has diverged in a way nothing will detect.
+3. **Idempotent, or guarded.** `create table if not exists`, `insert … on conflict do nothing`,
+   `alter table … add constraint` only after checking `pg_constraint`. A deploy that is safe to run twice
+   is a deploy that can be retried, and being retryable is what stops a partial rollout becoming a
+   forensic exercise.
+4. **Then run `bun db:push` anyway**, and expect it to be a no-op. That is the proof the two agree: if
+   `push` still wants to change something after your SQL, the SQL was wrong or incomplete, and that is a
+   finding for the report rather than something to push past.
+5. **Verify per host, by query**, and put the result in the report per host. Not "applied on all five" —
+   the specific check, and its answer, for each.
+6. **A host where the SQL fails is a failed host.** Report it, move to the next, and do not attempt a
+   repair you invented.
+
+**One thing to refuse outright:** `--force`. It exists to answer prompts unattended, and the prompts it
+answers are the destructive ones. On five hosts holding real data, a flag whose whole job is to say yes to
+"this will truncate a table" is not a convenience. If a change needs `--force` to apply, it needs a human.
+
 ### Skip the host you are running on
 
 Entirely. Do not pull it, do not restart anything on it, and **name it in the report as skipped**.

scripts/seed-roles.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/**
+ * Seed the `roles` table with the roles the platform's own code names.
+ *
+ * Runs from `postdb:push`, so every machine gets the rows on its next schema push rather than needing a
+ * per-server step in a deploy plan. Bun fires `pre`/`post` hooks for colon-named scripts — the same
+ * mechanism `backfill-session-models.ts` relies on.
+ *
+ * ── Why these four are `isSystem` ──
+ *
+ * Each is named by name somewhere in the code: `rolePermitsDevTools()` tests for `'Developer'`,
+ * `bootstrap.ts` writes `'Super Admin'`, `users.role` defaults to `'Member'`, and `'Admin'` is the one
+ * `rolePermitsDevTools` deliberately excludes. Renaming or deleting one of those is not a data change, it
+ * is a code change that has not happened — so the flag exists for the delete and rename paths to refuse on,
+ * rather than for the failure to turn up later as a missing database role or an account that cannot log in.
+ *
+ * ── What this deliberately does NOT do ──
+ *
+ * No foreign key from `users.role`. That change cannot go through `db:push`: push creates the table empty
+ * and adds the constraint in the same run, so every existing account violates it — verified against a
+ * scratch database on 2026-08-23, where push reported the violation, created the table, skipped the
+ * constraint, and exited 0. The FK is a separate release, once every host holds these rows.
+ *
+ * So today `users.role` is still a plain text column and nothing enforces that its value is a real role.
+ * That is the intended state of this phase: additive, unable to fail, and safe to run on five hosts
+ * unattended.
+ *
+ * Never overwrites. A description edited on one server must not be reverted by the next deploy.
+ */
+import { seedRole, waitForDatabase } from '../src/databases/officer_db/src/index';
+
+const SEED: { name: string; description: string }[] = [
+  { name: 'Super Admin', description: 'Full authority over the platform, and an OS account with sudo' },
+  { name: 'Admin', description: 'Administers the platform. No operating-system privilege' },
+  { name: 'Developer', description: 'A member who is also trusted with developer tooling on the machine' },
+  { name: 'Member', description: 'The default. Reaches only what their role has been granted' },
+];
+
+async function main(): Promise<void> {
+  await waitForDatabase();
+  let created = 0;
+  for (const role of SEED) {
+    if (await seedRole({ ...role, isSystem: true })) created += 1;
+  }
+  console.log(`[seed:roles] ${created} seeded, ${SEED.length - created} already present (of ${SEED.length})`);
+}
+
+// Never fatal. This runs from a `post` hook after a schema push, and a seed that cannot write must not make
+// a successful push look like a failed one — the rows are additive and the next push tries again.
+main()
+  .catch((err: unknown) => {
+    console.error('[seed:roles] could not seed:', err instanceof Error ? err.message : err);
+  })
+  .finally(() => process.exit(0));

src/apps/officer-web/Screens/Dashboard/Settings/ProfileSettings/Languages.tsx

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { X } from 'lucide-react';
 import { Label } from '@/components/ui/label';
 import { useSettings } from 'state/useSettings';
 import { useTranslation } from '@/lib/i18n';
+import { SHIPPED_LOCALES } from '@/lib/locales';
 
 const LANGUAGES = [
   { code: 'en', label: 'English' },
@@ -56,7 +57,8 @@ export const Languages = () => {
   const removeSpoken = (code: string) => {
     const next = spoken.filter((s) => s !== code);
     const updates = { ...settings.languages, spoken: next };
-    if (defaultLang === code) updates.default = next[0] ?? 'en';
+    // `default` (UI localization) draws from SHIPPED_LOCALES, not `spoken` — removing a spoken
+    // language never leaves it without a valid value.
     if (translateTo === code) updates.translateTo = next[0] ?? 'en';
     save(updates);
   };
@@ -104,7 +106,7 @@ export const Languages = () => {
         )}
       </div>
 
-      {/* Default language */}
+      {/* Default language — UI localization, so it only offers locales that actually ship (D2) */}
       <Label className="grid gap-2">
         <span className="text-duck-dark/70">{t('settings.profile.languages.defaultLabel')}</span>
         <select
@@ -112,9 +114,9 @@ export const Languages = () => {
           onChange={(ev) => save({ ...settings.languages, default: ev.target.value })}
           className="text-sm border border-duck-dark/20 rounded-md px-3 py-2 bg-background/60 text-duck-dark cursor-pointer"
         >
-          {spoken.map((code) => (
+          {SHIPPED_LOCALES.map(({ code, label }) => (
             <option key={code} value={code}>
-              {getLabel(code)}
+              {label}
             </option>
           ))}
         </select>

src/apps/officer-web/lib/I18nBridge.tsx

@@ -1,11 +1,30 @@
+import { useEffect } from 'react';
 import type { ReactNode } from 'react';
 import type { TranslationMap } from 'i18n';
-import { I18nProvider } from 'i18n';
+import { I18nProvider, localeDirection } from 'i18n';
+import { panelCatalogs } from 'officerdev';
+import { uiCatalogs } from '@/components/locales';
 import { useSettings } from 'state/useSettings';
-import en from '../locales/en.json';
-import pt from '../locales/pt.json';
+import { FALLBACK_LOCALE, SHIPPED_LOCALES } from './locales';
+import appEnGB from '../locales/en-GB.json';
+import appPtPT from '../locales/pt-PT.json';
 
-const translations: TranslationMap = { en, pt };
+const appCatalogs: TranslationMap = { 'en-GB': appEnGB, 'pt-PT': appPtPT };
+
+/**
+ * Deep-merges the three per-workspace catalogs (D6) into one map per shipped locale — `app.*` from
+ * officer-web, `panel.*` from officerdev's panel apps, `ui.*` from shared components.
+ */
+const translations: TranslationMap = Object.fromEntries(
+  SHIPPED_LOCALES.map(({ code }) => [
+    code,
+    {
+      app: appCatalogs[code] ?? {},
+      panel: panelCatalogs[code] ?? {},
+      ui: uiCatalogs[code] ?? {},
+    },
+  ]),
+);
 
 type I18nBridgeProps = {
   children: ReactNode;
@@ -15,8 +34,14 @@ export const I18nBridge = ({ children }: I18nBridgeProps) => {
   const { settings } = useSettings();
   const locale = settings.languages.default;
 
+  // Prepared for RTL (D3) — every shipped locale is `ltr` today, but the wiring exists so a future
+  // RTL catalog needs no second pass over the tree.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    document.documentElement.dir = localeDirection(locale);
+  }, [locale]);
+
   return (
-    <I18nProvider translations={translations} locale={locale}>
+    <I18nProvider translations={translations} locale={locale} fallbackLocale={FALLBACK_LOCALE}>
       {children}
     </I18nProvider>
   );

src/apps/officer-web/lib/i18n.ts

@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 import type { TranslationKeys } from 'i18n';
 import type { InterpolationParams } from 'i18n';
 import { useTranslation as useTranslationBase } from 'i18n';
-import type en from '../locales/en.json';
+import type en from '../locales/en-GB.json';
 
 type AppTranslationKey = TranslationKeys<typeof en>;
 
+// The `app.` prefix is namespace wiring for the merged catalog (D6) — callers never spell it, they
+// pass the same bare key the JSON file uses.
 export const useTranslation = () => {
   const { t: baseT, locale } = useTranslationBase();
-  const t = (key: AppTranslationKey, params?: InterpolationParams) => baseT(key, params);
+  const t = (key: AppTranslationKey, params?: InterpolationParams) => baseT(`app.${key}`, params);
   return { t, locale };
 };

src/apps/officer-web/lib/locales.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/**
+ * The UI locales that actually ship — regional BCP 47 tags, per docs/localization.md D2. This is the
+ * one list `I18nBridge` merges catalogs for and `Languages.tsx` offers for UI localization; it is
+ * deliberately separate from the broader "languages you speak" / "translate to" lists, which are a
+ * different feature (see the doc's open question 4) and are not limited to locales with a catalog.
+ */
+export type ShippedLocale = { code: string; label: string };
+
+export const SHIPPED_LOCALES: ShippedLocale[] = [
+  { code: 'en-GB', label: 'English (UK)' },
+  { code: 'pt-PT', label: 'Português (Portugal)' },
+];
+
+export const FALLBACK_LOCALE = 'en-GB';

src/apps/officer-web/locales/parity.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { findMissingKeys } from 'i18n';
+import en from './en-GB.json';
+import ptPT from './pt-PT.json';
+
+// D2: every shipped locale ships a COMPLETE catalog. A key en-GB has and pt-PT lacks is a red build,
+// not a warning — there is no regional fallback to paper over the gap.
+describe('officer-web (app.*) locale catalogs', () => {
+  test('pt-PT has every key en-GB has', () => {
+    expect(findMissingKeys(en, { 'pt-PT': ptPT })).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});

src/databases/officer_db/src/index.ts

@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ export * from './anthropic-accounts';
 export * from './theme-favorites';
 export { forgetChatSessions, sessionKeyForTranscriptId } from './chat-session-cleanup';
 export * from './sendoff';
+export * from './roles';
 export * from './command-hq';
 export * from './dashboards';
 export * from './integrations';

src/databases/officer_db/src/roles/index.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+export { roles } from './schema';
+export { listRoles, getRole, seedRole, type RoleRow } from './queries';

src/databases/officer_db/src/roles/queries.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import { asc, eq, sql } from 'drizzle-orm';
+import { db } from '../db';
+import { users } from '../auth/schema';
+import { roles } from './schema';
+
+export type RoleRow = {
+  name: string;
+  description: string | null;
+  isSystem: boolean;
+  provisioningScript: string | null;
+  createdAt: Date;
+};
+
+/**
+ * Every role, with how many accounts hold each.
+ *
+ * The count is here rather than in a second query because every caller needs it: a picker wants to show
+ * it, and the delete guard is defined in terms of it. One left join beats two round trips and a race
+ * between them.
+ */
+export async function listRoles(): Promise<(RoleRow & { userCount: number })[]> {
+  const rows = await db
+    .select({
+      name: roles.name,
+      description: roles.description,
+      isSystem: roles.isSystem,
+      provisioningScript: roles.provisioningScript,
+      createdAt: roles.createdAt,
+      userCount: sql<number>`count(${users.id})::int`,
+    })
+    .from(roles)
+    .leftJoin(users, eq(users.role, roles.name))
+    .groupBy(roles.name, roles.description, roles.isSystem, roles.provisioningScript, roles.createdAt)
+    .orderBy(asc(roles.name));
+  return rows;
+}
+
+export async function getRole(name: string): Promise<RoleRow | undefined> {
+  const [row] = await db.select().from(roles).where(eq(roles.name, name)).limit(1);
+  return row;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Seed a role if it is not there. Idempotent, and it does NOT overwrite an existing row.
+ *
+ * Called from `postdb:push` on every machine, so it runs again on every schema push for the rest of this
+ * platform's life. An upsert would mean a description edited on one server is silently reverted by the next
+ * deploy — so the seed establishes a row and never touches it again.
+ */
+export async function seedRole(row: {
+  name: string;
+  description?: string | null;
+  isSystem?: boolean;
+}): Promise<boolean> {
+  const inserted = await db
+    .insert(roles)
+    .values({ name: row.name, description: row.description ?? null, isSystem: row.isSystem ?? false })
+    .onConflictDoNothing({ target: roles.name })
+    .returning({ name: roles.name });
+  return inserted.length > 0;
+}

src/databases/officer_db/src/roles/schema.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import { pgTable, text, boolean, timestamp } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';
+
+/**
+ * The roles this server has, as data rather than a TypeScript union.
+ *
+ * ── Why the NAME is the primary key ──
+ *
+ * `users.role` and `role_permissions.role` both hold a role name today, and `authorize.ts` reads a name off
+ * the user to look up grants. Re-keying those onto a serial id would touch the authorization path — the one
+ * file standing between a Member and a shell — to buy nothing the name does not already give, because
+ * Postgres will cascade a rename for us. So both columns become foreign keys onto this one with
+ * `ON UPDATE CASCADE`: renaming a role moves every user and every grant with it, atomically, and no code
+ * changes.
+ *
+ * The cost is that a rename is a data migration rather than a label edit. That is honest — a role name
+ * appears in `rolePermitsDevTools`, in report text and in whatever a plugin has written down.
+ *
+ * ── What is NOT here ──
+ *
+ * **Ownership.** The owner is `OWNER_USER_ID`, an identity, not a role — see `super-admin.ts`. Before this
+ * table existed, "who owns this server" was answered by `users.role === 'Super Admin'`, which meant that
+ * making roles editable would have made "add a role" and "become the owner" the same feature. Several
+ * accounts may now hold `Super Admin`; exactly one account is the owner, and no role grants it.
+ *
+ * **Permissions.** They stay in `role_permissions`, keyed on the name. A role row is the role's identity and
+ * its provisioning, not its grants.
+ */
+export const roles = pgTable('roles', {
+  /** The name, and the key. Referenced by `users.role` and `role_permissions.role` with ON UPDATE CASCADE. */
+  name: text('name').primaryKey(),
+  /** One line, for a picker. Never load-bearing — nothing branches on it. */
+  description: text('description'),
+  /**
+   * A role the platform's own code names, so it cannot be deleted or renamed.
+   *
+   * `rolePermitsDevTools()` tests for `'Developer'` by name, `bootstrap.ts` sets `'Super Admin'`, and the
+   * users table defaults to `'Member'`. Deleting or renaming one of those is not a data change, it is a
+   * code change that has not happened yet — so the delete and rename paths refuse on this flag rather than
+   * discovering it as a runtime failure somewhere else.
+   */
+  isSystem: boolean('is_system').notNull().default(false),
+  /**
+   * Reserved for the per-role provisioning that comes next: a script run when an account is given this
+   * role, so "Developer gets rootless Docker" stops being a special case in `os-user-postgres.ts` and
+   * becomes a row. Null today, and nothing reads it.
+   *
+   * Declared now rather than later on purpose — it is the reason the owner wanted a table at all, and a
+   * column that arrives with the feature that uses it is a second migration for no gain.
+   */
+  provisioningScript: text('provisioning_script'),
+  createdAt: timestamp('created_at', { withTimezone: true }).notNull().defaultNow(),
+});

src/databases/officer_db/src/schema.ts

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ export * from './anthropic-accounts/schema'; // anthropic_accounts — switchabl
 export * from './theme-favorites/schema'; // theme_favorites — starred themes, per account
 export * from './command-hq/schema'; // command_hq_categories, command_hq_sessions, command_hq_tags, command_hq_session_tags
 export * from './sendoff/schema'; // sendoff_devices, sendoff_senders
+export * from './roles/schema'; // roles
 export * from './agent-panels/schema'; // agent_panels
 
 // Core because the tailnet is the perimeter — a security model resting on it cannot treat administering

src/workspaces/components/locales/en-GB.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{}

src/workspaces/components/locales/index.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import type { TranslationMap } from 'i18n';
+import enGB from './en-GB.json';
+import ptPT from './pt-PT.json';
+
+/** Shared components' own catalog, per locale — merged into the app-wide map by `I18nBridge` under `ui.*`. */
+export const uiCatalogs: TranslationMap = { 'en-GB': enGB, 'pt-PT': ptPT };
+
+export { useTranslation } from './useTranslation';

src/workspaces/components/locales/parity.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { findMissingKeys } from 'i18n';
+import en from './en-GB.json';
+import ptPT from './pt-PT.json';
+
+// D2: every shipped locale ships a COMPLETE catalog. Phase 0 scaffolds this catalog with no keys yet
+// (ui.* strings land in phase 1) — the test still runs so it is load-bearing from day one.
+describe('shared components (ui.*) locale catalogs', () => {
+  test('pt-PT has every key en-GB has', () => {
+    expect(findMissingKeys(en, { 'pt-PT': ptPT })).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});

src/workspaces/components/locales/pt-PT.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{}

src/workspaces/components/locales/useTranslation.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import type { InterpolationParams, TranslationKeys } from 'i18n';
+import { useTranslation as useTranslationBase } from 'i18n';
+import type en from './en-GB.json';
+
+type UiTranslationKey = TranslationKeys<typeof en>;
+
+// The `ui.` prefix is namespace wiring for the merged catalog (D6) — callers never spell it, they
+// pass the same bare key the JSON file uses. `ui.*` may not name a feature (see the naming convention).
+export const useTranslation = () => {
+  const { t: baseT, locale } = useTranslationBase();
+  const t = (key: UiTranslationKey, params?: InterpolationParams) => baseT(`ui.${key}`, params);
+  return { t, locale };
+};

src/workspaces/components/package.json

@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
     "dotenv": "^16.4.7",
     "embla-carousel-react": "^8.5.1",
     "hooks": "*",
+    "i18n": "*",
     "input-otp": "^1.4.1",
     "lucide-react": "^0.468.0",
     "next-themes": "^0.4.4",

src/workspaces/i18n/src/I18nProvider.tsx

@@ -11,15 +11,19 @@ export const I18nContext = createContext<I18nContextValue>({
 type I18nProviderProps = {
   translations: TranslationMap;
   locale: string;
+  /** The catalog `resolveKey` falls back to on a miss — a bug path, per D8, not a regional chain. */
+  fallbackLocale?: string;
   children: ReactNode;
 };
 
-export const I18nProvider = ({ translations, locale, children }: I18nProviderProps) => {
+export const I18nProvider = ({ translations, locale, fallbackLocale = 'en', children }: I18nProviderProps) => {
   const value = useMemo<I18nContextValue>(() => {
-    const t = (key: string, params?: InterpolationParams) =>
-      interpolate(resolveKey(translations, locale, key), params);
+    const t = (key: string, params?: InterpolationParams) => {
+      const count = typeof params?.count === 'number' ? params.count : undefined;
+      return interpolate(resolveKey(translations, locale, key, fallbackLocale, count), params);
+    };
     return { t, locale };
-  }, [translations, locale]);
+  }, [translations, locale, fallbackLocale]);
 
   return <I18nContext.Provider value={value}>{children}</I18nContext.Provider>;
 };

src/workspaces/i18n/src/index.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 export { I18nProvider, I18nContext } from './I18nProvider';
 export { useTranslation } from './useTranslation';
-export { resolveKey, interpolate } from './resolve';
-export type { TranslationMap, InterpolationParams, I18nContextValue, TranslationKeys } from './types';
+export { useFormat } from './useFormat';
+export { resolveKey, interpolate, isPluralForms, localeDirection } from './resolve';
+export { findMissingKeys } from './parity';
+export type { MissingKey } from './parity';
+export type { TranslationMap, InterpolationParams, I18nContextValue, TranslationKeys, PluralForms } from './types';

src/workspaces/i18n/src/parity.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import { isPluralForms } from './resolve';
+
+type Catalog = Record<string, unknown>;
+
+const flattenKeys = (obj: Catalog, prefix = ''): string[] =>
+  Object.entries(obj).flatMap(([k, v]) => {
+    const path = prefix ? `${prefix}.${k}` : k;
+    if (v !== null && typeof v === 'object' && !Array.isArray(v) && !isPluralForms(v)) {
+      return flattenKeys(v as Catalog, path);
+    }
+    return [path];
+  });
+
+export type MissingKey = { locale: string; key: string };
+
+/**
+ * Per D2, every shipped locale is a COMPLETE catalog — no regional inheritance. So a key `en` has
+ * and a locale's own file lacks is not a fallback case, it's a red build (docs/localization.md,
+ * "Tooling and guardrails").
+ */
+export const findMissingKeys = (en: Catalog, locales: Record<string, Catalog>): MissingKey[] => {
+  const enKeys = flattenKeys(en);
+  return Object.entries(locales).flatMap(([locale, catalog]) => {
+    const ownKeys = new Set(flattenKeys(catalog));
+    return enKeys.filter((key) => !ownKeys.has(key)).map((key) => ({ locale, key }));
+  });
+};

src/workspaces/i18n/src/resolve.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { resolveKey, interpolate, isPluralForms, localeDirection } from './resolve';
+import { findMissingKeys } from './parity';
+import type { TranslationMap } from './types';
+
+describe('resolveKey', () => {
+  const translations: TranslationMap = {
+    'pt-PT': { greeting: 'Olá {{name}}' },
+    'en-GB': { greeting: 'Hello {{name}}', onlyInEnglish: 'English only' },
+  };
+
+  test('resolves from the active locale', () => {
+    expect(resolveKey(translations, 'pt-PT', 'greeting', 'en-GB')).toBe('Olá {{name}}');
+  });
+
+  test('falls back to the fallback locale on a miss', () => {
+    expect(resolveKey(translations, 'pt-PT', 'onlyInEnglish', 'en-GB')).toBe('English only');
+  });
+
+  test('renders the raw key when even the fallback is missing', () => {
+    expect(resolveKey(translations, 'pt-PT', 'nowhere', 'en-GB')).toBe('nowhere');
+  });
+
+  test('never walks a chain between two non-fallback locales', () => {
+    const withThird: TranslationMap = { ...translations, 'pt-BR': {} };
+    // pt-BR has no key of its own and must NOT inherit pt-PT's — only the fallback locale counts.
+    expect(resolveKey(withThird, 'pt-BR', 'greeting', 'en-GB')).toBe('Hello {{name}}');
+  });
+
+  test('selects a plural branch via Intl.PluralRules', () => {
+    const plurals: TranslationMap = {
+      'en-GB': { files: { one: '{{count}} file', other: '{{count}} files' } },
+    };
+    expect(resolveKey(plurals, 'en-GB', 'files', 'en-GB', 1)).toBe('{{count}} file');
+    expect(resolveKey(plurals, 'en-GB', 'files', 'en-GB', 2)).toBe('{{count}} files');
+    expect(resolveKey(plurals, 'en-GB', 'files', 'en-GB', 0)).toBe('{{count}} files');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('interpolate', () => {
+  test('substitutes params', () => {
+    expect(interpolate('Hello {{name}}', { name: 'Ana' })).toBe('Hello Ana');
+  });
+
+  test('leaves an unknown placeholder untouched', () => {
+    expect(interpolate('Hello {{name}}', {})).toBe('Hello {{name}}');
+  });
+
+  test('passes a plain string through with no params', () => {
+    expect(interpolate('Hello')).toBe('Hello');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('isPluralForms', () => {
+  test('accepts an open record of CLDR categories', () => {
+    expect(isPluralForms({ one: 'a', other: 'b' })).toBe(true);
+    expect(isPluralForms({ other: 'b' })).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('rejects a plain nested catalog node', () => {
+    expect(isPluralForms({ title: 'a', description: 'b' })).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('rejects non-objects', () => {
+    expect(isPluralForms('a string')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isPluralForms(null)).toBe(false);
+    expect(isPluralForms(['one', 'other'])).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('localeDirection', () => {
+  test('ltr for English and Portuguese', () => {
+    expect(localeDirection('en-GB')).toBe('ltr');
+    expect(localeDirection('pt-PT')).toBe('ltr');
+  });
+
+  test('rtl for Arabic and Hebrew, by language subtag', () => {
+    expect(localeDirection('ar')).toBe('rtl');
+    expect(localeDirection('ar-EG')).toBe('rtl');
+    expect(localeDirection('he-IL')).toBe('rtl');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('findMissingKeys', () => {
+  test('flags a key en has and a locale lacks', () => {
+    const en = { common: { save: 'Save', cancel: 'Cancel' } };
+    const ptPT = { common: { save: 'Guardar' } };
+    expect(findMissingKeys(en, { 'pt-PT': ptPT })).toEqual([{ locale: 'pt-PT', key: 'common.cancel' }]);
+  });
+
+  test('a complete catalog has no gaps', () => {
+    const en = { common: { save: 'Save' } };
+    const ptPT = { common: { save: 'Guardar' } };
+    expect(findMissingKeys(en, { 'pt-PT': ptPT })).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  test('a plural-forms leaf counts as one key, not one per category', () => {
+    const en = { files: { one: '{{count}} file', other: '{{count}} files' } };
+    const ptPT = { files: { one: '{{count}} ficheiro', other: '{{count}} ficheiros' } };
+    expect(findMissingKeys(en, { 'pt-PT': ptPT })).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});

src/workspaces/i18n/src/types.ts

@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@ export type TranslationMap = Record<string, Record<string, unknown>>;
 
 export type InterpolationParams = Record<string, string | number>;
 
+/**
+ * A pluralizable catalog entry — CLDR's category set (Intl.PluralRules), never a fixed
+ * `{one, other}` shape, because some locales need up to all six (see docs/localization.md D7).
+ */
+export type PluralForms = Partial<Record<Intl.LDMLPluralRule, string>>;
+
 export type I18nContextValue = {
   t: (key: string, params?: InterpolationParams) => string;
   locale: string;

src/workspaces/i18n/src/useFormat.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import { useContext, useMemo } from 'react';
+import { I18nContext } from './I18nProvider';
+
+type DateInput = Date | number | string;
+
+/**
+ * Date, time and number formatting bound to the active locale, via `Intl` (D7) — the replacement for
+ * the ~23 `toLocale*()` call sites that otherwise follow the browser's locale and quietly contradict
+ * the rest of the UI. Moving those call sites is phase 1-3 work; this is just the hook they move to.
+ */
+export const useFormat = () => {
+  const { locale } = useContext(I18nContext);
+
+  return useMemo(() => {
+    const date = (value: DateInput, options?: Intl.DateTimeFormatOptions) =>
+      new Intl.DateTimeFormat(locale, options).format(new Date(value));
+
+    const time = (value: DateInput, options?: Intl.DateTimeFormatOptions) =>
+      new Intl.DateTimeFormat(locale, { timeStyle: 'short', ...options }).format(new Date(value));
+
+    const dateTime = (value: DateInput, options?: Intl.DateTimeFormatOptions) =>
+      new Intl.DateTimeFormat(locale, { dateStyle: 'medium', timeStyle: 'short', ...options }).format(new Date(value));
+
+    const number = (value: number, options?: Intl.NumberFormatOptions) =>
+      new Intl.NumberFormat(locale, options).format(value);
+
+    const relative = (value: number, unit: Intl.RelativeTimeFormatUnit, options?: Intl.RelativeTimeFormatOptions) =>
+      new Intl.RelativeTimeFormat(locale, options).format(value, unit);
+
+    return { date, time, dateTime, number, relative };
+  }, [locale]);
+};

src/workspaces/officerdev/package.json

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "hooks": "workspace:*",
+    "i18n": "workspace:*",
     "state": "workspace:*",
     "widgets": "workspace:*"
   }

src/workspaces/officerdev/src/index.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 export * from './hooks';
 export * from './channels';
+// The panel apps' own i18n catalog — I18nBridge merges it into the app-wide map under `panel.*`.
+export { panelCatalogs } from './locales';
 // For the shell: a screen naming itself better than its route can — see usePageTitle's precedence.
 export { usePageTitleOverride, usePublishPageTitle } from './page-title';
 export type { PageTitleOverride } from './page-title';
@@ -49,13 +51,11 @@ export type {
   CommandHqCostSummary,
 } from './apps/CommandHQ';
 
-
 // /calendar and /contacts select with a query param rather than a path segment, so what the screens need
 // from the app is the param name and the link builder.
 export { COLLECTION_PARAM, davCollectionPath } from './apps/Dav/shared';
 export type { DavCollection, CalendarEvent, DavContact } from './apps/Dav/shared';
 
-
 export {
   useFilesAPI,
   useTasks,

src/workspaces/officerdev/src/locales/en-GB.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{}

src/workspaces/officerdev/src/locales/index.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import type { TranslationMap } from 'i18n';
+import enGB from './en-GB.json';
+import ptPT from './pt-PT.json';
+
+/** Panel apps' own catalog, per locale — merged into the app-wide map by `I18nBridge` under `panel.*`. */
+export const panelCatalogs: TranslationMap = { 'en-GB': enGB, 'pt-PT': ptPT };
+
+export { useTranslation } from './useTranslation';

src/workspaces/officerdev/src/locales/parity.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { findMissingKeys } from 'i18n';
+import en from './en-GB.json';
+import ptPT from './pt-PT.json';
+
+// D2: every shipped locale ships a COMPLETE catalog. Phase 0 scaffolds this catalog with no keys yet
+// (no panel is converted in this phase) — the test still runs so it is load-bearing from day one.
+describe('officerdev (panel.*) locale catalogs', () => {
+  test('pt-PT has every key en-GB has', () => {
+    expect(findMissingKeys(en, { 'pt-PT': ptPT })).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});

src/workspaces/officerdev/src/locales/pt-PT.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{}

src/workspaces/officerdev/src/locales/useTranslation.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import type { InterpolationParams, TranslationKeys } from 'i18n';
+import { useTranslation as useTranslationBase } from 'i18n';
+import type en from './en-GB.json';
+
+type PanelTranslationKey = TranslationKeys<typeof en>;
+
+// The `panel.` prefix is namespace wiring for the merged catalog (D6) — callers never spell it, they
+// pass the same bare key the JSON file uses.
+export const useTranslation = () => {
+  const { t: baseT, locale } = useTranslationBase();
+  const t = (key: PanelTranslationKey, params?: InterpolationParams) => baseT(`panel.${key}`, params);
+  return { t, locale };
+};

src/workspaces/state/src/useSettings.ts

@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ import { useAuth } from 'hooks/useAuth';
 
 const QUERY_KEY = ['USER_SETTINGS'];
 
+/**
+ * UI locales went from bare codes to regional BCP 47 tags (docs/localization.md D2). A stale bare
+ * code must resolve rather than fail, and this is a one-time widening on read, not a DB migration.
+ */
+const WIDEN_BARE_LOCALE: Record<string, string> = { en: 'en-GB', pt: 'pt-PT' };
+const widenLocale = (code: string): string => WIDEN_BARE_LOCALE[code] ?? code;
+
 const mergeWithDefaults = (saved: Partial<UserSettings>): UserSettings => ({
   chat: { ...DEFAULT_SETTINGS.chat, ...saved.chat },
   ai: {
@@ -14,7 +21,11 @@ const mergeWithDefaults = (saved: Partial<UserSettings>): UserSettings => ({
   },
   tasks: { ...DEFAULT_SETTINGS.tasks, ...saved.tasks },
   appearance: { ...DEFAULT_SETTINGS.appearance, ...saved.appearance },
-  languages: { ...DEFAULT_SETTINGS.languages, ...saved.languages },
+  languages: {
+    ...DEFAULT_SETTINGS.languages,
+    ...saved.languages,
+    default: widenLocale(saved.languages?.default ?? DEFAULT_SETTINGS.languages.default),
+  },
   tts: { ...DEFAULT_SETTINGS.tts, ...saved.tts },
 });
 
@@ -121,7 +132,7 @@ export const DEFAULT_SETTINGS: UserSettings = {
   },
   languages: {
     spoken: ['en'],
-    default: 'en',
+    default: 'en-GB',
     translateTo: 'en',
   },
   tts: {