fix(gateway): bound live mappings and the new-mapping rate

Any host that can reach the LAN resolver could ask for one new .fips
name after another, and each got a virtual-IP mapping until the pool's
65,535 addresses ran out. Every mapping also adds to the cost of each
NAT rebuild, each pool tick and shutdown.

The pool now refuses a new name once it holds 1000 live mappings, and
admits new names from a token bucket of 50 that refills at 10 per
second. Both checks sit after the return for a name that already has a
mapping, so names in use keep resolving when new ones are refused. The
ceiling is checked first, so a refusal there takes no token and is
always reported as the ceiling. A token is taken only once an address
has been taken from the free list, so an exhausted pool costs none.
Each limit has its own PoolError variant, and the "Pool allocation
failed" warning names the one that refused. VirtualIpPool::new keeps
its signature and uses the compiled-in limits; with_limits and
allocate_at, which takes the instant that drives the refill, let the
unit tests set small limits and a clock.

The limits come from a flood of the gateway suite's gateway to 500,
1000 and 2000 live mappings with no limits in place. The measurement
record is kept separately. Figures:

- New mappings per second, over 100 creations: 215 for the first 100,
  63 at 500, 47 at 1000, 32 at 2000.
- NAT rebuild, median/max over the 20 adds up to the count: 17.5/26.5
  ms at 500, 22.2/34.3 ms at 1000, 32.2/38.3 ms at 2000.
- Pool tick: 24 to 32 us at 500, 48 to 53 us at 1000, 105 to 115 us at
  2000, beside a conntrack read of 180 to 300 us.
- Shutdown at 2000 mappings: 2.4 s.

These are a best case for router hardware: they come from a container
on a development host, not a router, and that host has no
/proc/net/nf_conntrack, so the tick figures include no conntrack
parsing. The ceiling is half the largest count measured. At 1000 a
rebuild took about 22 ms and shutdown about 1.2 s. The rate is below
the unthrottled creation rate at every count measured, so the bucket
rather than the rebuild sets how fast a flood can fill the pool. From
empty that now takes about 95 s; the unthrottled run passed 1000 in
about 16 s. Ten rebuilds a second at the ceiling cost about a fifth of
the gateway's single runtime thread on that host. The 2000 figures
exist only in the measurement, since the committed phase stops at the
ceiling.

To measure and to keep measuring, the "Added DNAT/SNAT rules" and
"Removed DNAT/SNAT rules" debug lines now carry the mapping count after
the change and the rebuild's duration in microseconds, and are also
emitted, with the error, when a rebuild fails, so a failure at some
count leaves a record of that count. The pool tick logs a debug line
with the mapping count and the durations of the conntrack read and of
the tick. The suite's gateway logs at info because RUST_LOG=info
overrides the entrypoint's --log-level debug, so the gw-gateway service
now enables debug for the NAT manager and the gateway binary only.

The gateway suite's last phase is now the regression. It restarts the
gateway with mappings that outlive the phase and reads the limits from
pool.rs. It fills the pool to the ceiling with the readiness probe's
mapping plus ceiling - 1 new names, retrying rate refusals, then asks
once each for 20 more. It asserts all 20 get SERVFAIL, the live count
equals the ceiling, at least 20 ceiling refusals are logged, the rate
limit refused during the fill and not after it, the probe's name keeps
its address, nothing is reclaimed, no NAT or proxy NDP failure is
logged, and no 10 s window of the fill holds more than burst + 10 x
rate creations. It also reports rebuild durations at 500 and 1000,
ticks as they fall, and the shutdown time at the ceiling. On a tree
with these assertions but no checks in allocate the phase fails five
of them: 1020 mappings, 0 SERVFAIL, no ceiling or rate refusals, and
713 creations in one 10 s window. With the limits it passes in about
140 s, with rebuilds of 17.8/24.5 ms at 500 and 20.9/33.9 ms at 1000
and a 1.2 s shutdown at the ceiling.

The NAT batch phase now also goes through the rate limit, so its
driver retries refusals; it shares the restart, readiness gate and DNS
driver with the new phase instead of carrying its own copies.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -159,6 +159,16 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   the batch and requests one acknowledgement per batch, and NAT errors now
   name the kernel errno. A rebuild that still fails is logged, and the next
   successful rebuild installs the mapping.
+- The gateway's virtual-IP pool now limits how many mappings it holds and how
+  fast it creates them. Any host that can reach the LAN resolver could ask for
+  one new `.fips` name after another, and each got a mapping until the 65,535
+  addresses ran out, while every mapping made each NAT rebuild, each pool tick
+  and shutdown slower. The pool now refuses a new name once it holds 1000 live
+  mappings, and admits new names at 10 per second after a burst of 50. A
+  refused query gets SERVFAIL, and the gateway's "Pool allocation failed"
+  warning says which limit refused it. A name that already has a mapping is
+  answered before either limit is consulted, so names in use keep resolving
+  when the pool is full. The limits are compiled in, not configured.
 - A new OpenWrt install no longer enables and starts `fips-gateway`. The
   generated postinst turned it on unconditionally, contradicting the init
   script's own header, the package README and the deployment tutorial, all of

src/bin/fips-gateway.rs

@@ -53,6 +53,12 @@ fn main() {
     std::process::exit(1);
 }
 
+/// Microseconds since `started`, saturating, for the timing fields on debug
+/// lines.
+fn elapsed_us(started: Instant) -> u64 {
+    u64::try_from(started.elapsed().as_micros()).unwrap_or(u64::MAX)
+}
+
 /// Take a conntrack snapshot off the runtime thread.
 ///
 /// A failed read yields an empty snapshot, so every mapping reads zero
@@ -446,14 +452,19 @@ async fn main() {
                     // the pool lock: the runtime is current-thread, so a
                     // blocking read here would stall the DNS resolver, and the
                     // read must not happen under the lock the resolver needs.
+                    let read_started = Instant::now();
                     let conntrack = read_conntrack(&mut conntrack_log).await;
+                    let read_us = elapsed_us(read_started);
                     let mut pool_guard = tick_pool.lock().await;
+                    let tick_started = Instant::now();
                     let events = pool_guard.tick(now, &conntrack);
+                    let tick_us = elapsed_us(tick_started);
 
                     // Build snapshot for control socket
                     let pool_status = pool_guard.status();
                     let mappings = pool_guard.mapping_info(now);
                     drop(pool_guard);
+                    debug!(mappings = mappings.len(), read_us, tick_us, "Pool tick");
 
                     let snapshot = control::build_snapshot(
                         pool_status,

src/gateway/nat.rs

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::fmt;
 use std::net::Ipv6Addr;
 use std::os::fd::{AsRawFd, FromRawFd, OwnedFd};
+use std::time::Instant;
 use tracing::{debug, info};
 
 use rustables::expr::{
@@ -242,14 +243,26 @@ impl NatManager {
                 mesh_addr,
             },
         );
-        self.rebuild()?;
+        let (result, elapsed_us) = self.timed_rebuild();
-
+        let mappings = self.mappings.len();
-        debug!(
+        match &result {
-            virtual_ip = %virtual_ip,
+            Ok(()) => debug!(
-            mesh_addr = %mesh_addr,
+                virtual_ip = %virtual_ip,
-            "Added DNAT/SNAT rules"
+                mesh_addr = %mesh_addr,
-        );
+                mappings,
-        Ok(())
+                elapsed_us,
+                "Added DNAT/SNAT rules"
+            ),
+            Err(e) => debug!(
+                virtual_ip = %virtual_ip,
+                mesh_addr = %mesh_addr,
+                mappings,
+                elapsed_us,
+                error = %e,
+                "Added DNAT/SNAT rules"
+            ),
+        }
+        result
     }
 
     /// Remove DNAT and SNAT rules for a virtual IP mapping.
@@ -257,10 +270,24 @@ impl NatManager {
         if self.mappings.remove(&virtual_ip).is_none() {
             return Err(NatError::RuleNotFound(virtual_ip));
         }
-        self.rebuild()?;
+        let (result, elapsed_us) = self.timed_rebuild();
-
+        let mappings = self.mappings.len();
-        debug!(virtual_ip = %virtual_ip, "Removed DNAT/SNAT rules");
+        match &result {
-        Ok(())
+            Ok(()) => debug!(
+                virtual_ip = %virtual_ip,
+                mappings,
+                elapsed_us,
+                "Removed DNAT/SNAT rules"
+            ),
+            Err(e) => debug!(
+                virtual_ip = %virtual_ip,
+                mappings,
+                elapsed_us,
+                error = %e,
+                "Removed DNAT/SNAT rules"
+            ),
+        }
+        result
     }
 
     /// Flush all rules and delete the nftables table.
@@ -467,6 +494,15 @@ impl NatManager {
         }
         Ok(())
     }
+
+    /// Rebuild, returning the outcome with the time the rebuild took in
+    /// microseconds, so a mapping change can log its cost on either path.
+    fn timed_rebuild(&self) -> (Result<(), NatError>, u64) {
+        let started = Instant::now();
+        let result = self.rebuild();
+        let elapsed_us = u64::try_from(started.elapsed().as_micros()).unwrap_or(u64::MAX);
+        (result, elapsed_us)
+    }
 }
 
 /// Largest batch, in bytes, that the kernel can admit in one send.

src/gateway/pool.rs

@@ -10,6 +10,18 @@ use std::net::Ipv6Addr;
 use std::time::Instant;
 use tracing::{debug, info};
 
+/// Most live mappings the pool holds before it refuses new names.
+///
+/// Every mapping adds rules to the NAT table, which is rebuilt whole on each
+/// change, and work to every tick and to shutdown, so this bounds all three.
+pub const MAPPING_CEILING: usize = 1000;
+
+/// New mappings the pool admits in a burst, when idle long enough to refill.
+pub const MAPPING_BURST: u32 = 50;
+
+/// New mappings per second the pool admits once a burst is spent.
+pub const MAPPING_RATE: u32 = 10;
+
 /// Errors from pool operations.
 #[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
 pub enum PoolError {
@@ -19,6 +31,10 @@ pub enum PoolError {
     Exhausted(usize),
     #[error("prefix length must be between 1 and 128")]
     InvalidPrefix,
+    #[error("live-mapping ceiling reached ({0} mappings)")]
+    AtCeiling(usize),
+    #[error("new-mapping rate limit reached")]
+    RateLimited,
 }
 
 /// State of a virtual IP mapping.
@@ -217,6 +233,67 @@ impl ConntrackReadLog {
     }
 }
 
+/// Token bucket for new mappings.
+///
+/// The level is kept in token-nanoseconds so refill is exact integer
+/// arithmetic: one token is `NANOS` units, and each elapsed nanosecond adds
+/// `rate` units.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct Bucket {
+    /// Current level, in units of `1 / NANOS` token.
+    level: u128,
+    /// Level when full.
+    capacity: u128,
+    /// Tokens added per second.
+    rate: u128,
+    /// When the level was last brought up to date; unset until first use.
+    last: Option<Instant>,
+}
+
+impl Bucket {
+    const NANOS: u128 = 1_000_000_000;
+
+    /// A full bucket of `capacity` tokens refilling at `rate` per second.
+    fn new(capacity: u32, rate: u32) -> Self {
+        let capacity = u128::from(capacity) * Self::NANOS;
+        Self {
+            level: capacity,
+            capacity,
+            rate: u128::from(rate),
+            last: None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Add what has accrued since the last refill, up to capacity.
+    fn refill(&mut self, now: Instant) {
+        if let Some(last) = self.last {
+            let elapsed = now.saturating_duration_since(last).as_nanos();
+            self.level = self
+                .level
+                .saturating_add(elapsed.saturating_mul(self.rate))
+                .min(self.capacity);
+        }
+        // Never move backwards, so a stale `now` cannot credit time twice.
+        self.last = Some(self.last.map_or(now, |last| last.max(now)));
+    }
+
+    /// Whether at least one whole token is available.
+    fn has_token(&self) -> bool {
+        self.level >= Self::NANOS
+    }
+
+    /// Spend one token; the caller has checked `has_token`.
+    fn take(&mut self) {
+        self.level = self.level.saturating_sub(Self::NANOS);
+    }
+
+    /// Whole tokens available.
+    #[cfg(test)]
+    fn tokens(&self) -> u128 {
+        self.level / Self::NANOS
+    }
+}
+
 /// Virtual IP pool manager.
 pub struct VirtualIpPool {
     /// Available addresses (free pool).
@@ -231,11 +308,38 @@ pub struct VirtualIpPool {
     grace_secs: u64,
     /// Total pool size.
     total: usize,
+    /// Most live mappings admitted before new names are refused.
+    ceiling: usize,
+    /// Rate limit on new mappings.
+    bucket: Bucket,
 }
 
 impl VirtualIpPool {
-    /// Create a new pool from a CIDR string (e.g., `fd01::/112`).
+    /// Create a new pool from a CIDR string (e.g., `fd01::/112`), with the
+    /// compiled-in admission limits.
     pub fn new(cidr: &str, ttl_secs: u64, grace_secs: u64) -> Result<Self, PoolError> {
+        Self::with_limits(
+            cidr,
+            ttl_secs,
+            grace_secs,
+            MAPPING_CEILING,
+            MAPPING_BURST,
+            MAPPING_RATE,
+        )
+    }
+
+    /// Create a pool with explicit admission limits.
+    ///
+    /// Production uses `new`; this exists so tests can set limits small
+    /// enough to reach without allocating the compiled-in counts.
+    pub fn with_limits(
+        cidr: &str,
+        ttl_secs: u64,
+        grace_secs: u64,
+        ceiling: usize,
+        burst: u32,
+        rate: u32,
+    ) -> Result<Self, PoolError> {
         let (base, prefix_len) = parse_ipv6_cidr(cidr)?;
         if prefix_len == 0 || prefix_len > 128 {
             return Err(PoolError::InvalidPrefix);
@@ -267,6 +371,8 @@ impl VirtualIpPool {
             ttl_secs,
             grace_secs,
             total,
+            ceiling,
+            bucket: Bucket::new(burst, rate),
         })
     }
 
@@ -292,6 +398,21 @@ impl VirtualIpPool {
         node_addr: NodeAddr,
         mesh_addr: Ipv6Addr,
         dns_name: &str,
+    ) -> Result<(Ipv6Addr, bool), PoolError> {
+        self.allocate_at(node_addr, mesh_addr, dns_name, Instant::now())
+    }
+
+    /// `allocate` at a given instant, which drives the rate limit's refill
+    /// and stamps a new mapping.
+    ///
+    /// An existing mapping is returned before either limit is consulted, so a
+    /// name already in use keeps resolving when new names are refused.
+    pub fn allocate_at(
+        &mut self,
+        node_addr: NodeAddr,
+        mesh_addr: Ipv6Addr,
+        dns_name: &str,
+        now: Instant,
     ) -> Result<(Ipv6Addr, bool), PoolError> {
         // Idempotent: return existing mapping, refreshed.
         if self.refresh_if_present(node_addr)
@@ -300,12 +421,21 @@ impl VirtualIpPool {
             return Ok((mapping.virtual_ip, false));
         }
 
+        // Ceiling first, so a refusal there costs no token and names the
+        // ceiling whatever the bucket holds.
+        if self.mappings.len() >= self.ceiling {
+            return Err(PoolError::AtCeiling(self.mappings.len()));
+        }
+        self.bucket.refill(now);
+        if !self.bucket.has_token() {
+            return Err(PoolError::RateLimited);
+        }
         let virtual_ip = self
             .available
             .pop_front()
             .ok_or(PoolError::Exhausted(self.mappings.len()))?;
+        self.bucket.take();
 
-        let now = Instant::now();
         let mapping = VirtualIpMapping {
             node_addr,
             virtual_ip,
@@ -490,6 +620,7 @@ fn parse_ipv6_cidr(cidr: &str) -> Result<(Ipv6Addr, u32), PoolError> {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
+    use std::time::Duration;
 
     /// Session counts a test sets directly, handed to `tick` as the snapshot
     /// the tick task would have read from conntrack.
@@ -589,6 +720,102 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    /// A `/120` pool with the given limits, TTL and grace of 60 s.
+    fn limited_pool(ceiling: usize, burst: u32, rate: u32) -> VirtualIpPool {
+        VirtualIpPool::with_limits("fd01::/120", 60, 60, ceiling, burst, rate).unwrap()
+    }
+
+    /// Allocate node `i` at `now`.
+    fn alloc(pool: &mut VirtualIpPool, i: u8, now: Instant) -> Result<(Ipv6Addr, bool), PoolError> {
+        pool.allocate_at(make_node_addr(i), make_mesh_addr(i), "test.fips", now)
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn ceiling_refuses_a_new_name_without_a_token_and_keeps_existing_names() {
+        let t0 = Instant::now();
+        let mut pool = limited_pool(3, 10, 1);
+        let mut vips = Vec::new();
+        for i in 1..=3u8 {
+            vips.push(alloc(&mut pool, i, t0).unwrap().0);
+        }
+        assert_eq!(pool.bucket.tokens(), 7);
+
+        assert!(
+            matches!(alloc(&mut pool, 4, t0), Err(PoolError::AtCeiling(3))),
+            "a fourth new name must be refused at a ceiling of 3"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            pool.bucket.tokens(),
+            7,
+            "a ceiling refusal must not take a token"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            alloc(&mut pool, 2, t0).unwrap(),
+            (vips[1], false),
+            "a name that already has a mapping must still resolve at the ceiling"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn ceiling_is_checked_before_the_rate_limit() {
+        let t0 = Instant::now();
+        // The bucket empties exactly as the ceiling is reached.
+        let mut pool = limited_pool(3, 3, 1);
+        for i in 1..=3u8 {
+            alloc(&mut pool, i, t0).unwrap();
+        }
+        assert_eq!(pool.bucket.tokens(), 0);
+        assert!(
+            matches!(alloc(&mut pool, 4, t0), Err(PoolError::AtCeiling(3))),
+            "a name refused at the ceiling must report the ceiling, not the rate"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn rate_limit_refuses_a_burst_keeps_existing_names_and_refills() {
+        let t0 = Instant::now();
+        let mut pool = limited_pool(100, 2, 1);
+        let (vip1, _) = alloc(&mut pool, 1, t0).unwrap();
+        alloc(&mut pool, 2, t0).unwrap();
+        assert!(
+            matches!(alloc(&mut pool, 3, t0), Err(PoolError::RateLimited)),
+            "a third new name at the same instant must be refused by a burst of 2"
+        );
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            alloc(&mut pool, 1, t0).unwrap(),
+            (vip1, false),
+            "an existing name must resolve with the bucket empty"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(pool.bucket.tokens(), 0);
+        assert!(
+            matches!(alloc(&mut pool, 3, t0), Err(PoolError::RateLimited)),
+            "resolving an existing name must not have freed a token"
+        );
+
+        let (_, is_new) = alloc(&mut pool, 3, t0 + Duration::from_secs(1)).unwrap();
+        assert!(is_new, "one refill interval later a new name must allocate");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn exhausted_pool_takes_no_token() {
+        let t0 = Instant::now();
+        // /126 = 3 usable addresses.
+        let mut pool = VirtualIpPool::with_limits("fd01::/126", 60, 60, 100, 10, 1).unwrap();
+        for i in 1..=3u8 {
+            alloc(&mut pool, i, t0).unwrap();
+        }
+        assert!(matches!(
+            alloc(&mut pool, 4, t0),
+            Err(PoolError::Exhausted(3))
+        ));
+        assert_eq!(
+            pool.bucket.tokens(),
+            7,
+            "a refusal for an exhausted pool must not take a token"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_mapping_lifecycle_allocated_to_free() {
         let mut pool = VirtualIpPool::new("fd01::/120", 1, 1).unwrap();

testing/static/docker-compose.yml

@@ -375,7 +375,9 @@ services:
     # attached after container start) and manage nftables NAT rules.
     privileged: true
     environment:
-      - RUST_LOG=info
+      # Debug for the NAT rebuild and pool tick timing lines only; the
+      # gateway's --log-level is ignored while RUST_LOG is set.
+      - RUST_LOG=info,fips::gateway::nat=debug,fips_gateway=debug
       - FIPS_TEST_MODE=gateway
     sysctls:
       - net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=0

testing/static/scripts/gateway-test.sh

@@ -477,6 +477,191 @@ else
     check "Gateway shutdown (no completion message in logs)" 1
 fi
 
+# ── Long-lived gateway restart, shared by phases 11 and 12 ───────────────
+
+# Start the stopped gateway with mappings that outlive the phase, and gate on
+# its readiness. A failure is recorded through check under the label prefix
+# $1 and returns 1, and the caller ends its phase. On success it sets:
+#   GW_STARTED   the container's start time, for `docker logs --since`, since
+#                the log still holds every earlier phase
+#   GW_T0        epoch seconds at the start
+#   GW_BASELINE  allocations after the readiness probe, which allocates
+#   GW_PROBE     the address the readiness probe got for NPUB_B
+gw_long_lived_start() {
+    local prefix="$1"
+    local config_file="$GENERATED_DIR/gateway/node-a.yaml"
+    local expect_rev
+    expect_rev=$(git -C "$SCRIPT_DIR" rev-parse --short=10 HEAD)
+
+    # Rewrite in place (same inode): the container sees the host file through
+    # a single-file bind mount, which a replace-by-rename would leave behind.
+    python3 - "$config_file" <<'PYEOF'
+import sys, yaml
+path = sys.argv[1]
+with open(path, "r+") as f:
+    cfg = yaml.safe_load(f)
+    cfg["gateway"]["dns"]["ttl"] = 1800
+    cfg["gateway"]["pool_grace_period"] = 1800
+    f.seek(0)
+    yaml.dump(cfg, f, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False)
+    f.truncate()
+PYEOF
+
+    docker start "$GATEWAY" >/dev/null
+    GW_STARTED=$(docker inspect -f '{{.State.StartedAt}}' "$GATEWAY")
+    GW_T0=$(date -u +%s)
+    echo "  Gateway started at $GW_STARTED (expect rev $expect_rev)"
+
+    local seen_ttl seen_grace
+    seen_ttl=$(docker exec "$GATEWAY" grep -c "ttl: 1800" /etc/fips/fips.yaml || true)
+    seen_grace=$(docker exec "$GATEWAY" grep -c "pool_grace_period: 1800" /etc/fips/fips.yaml || true)
+    if [ "$seen_ttl" -ge 1 ] && [ "$seen_grace" -ge 1 ]; then
+        check "$prefix: container sees ttl 1800 and grace 1800" 0
+    else
+        check "$prefix: container config rewrite (ttl: $seen_ttl, grace: $seen_grace)" 1
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    # Readiness is a hard gate here, unlike phases 1 and 2.
+    if wait_for_peers "$GATEWAY" 2 60; then
+        check "$prefix: gateway peers after restart" 0
+    else
+        check "$prefix: gateway peers after restart" 1
+        return 1
+    fi
+    local probe
+    GW_PROBE=""
+    for _ in $(seq 1 60); do
+        probe=$(docker exec "$CLIENT" dig +short AAAA "${NPUB_B}.fips" @${GW_DNS} 2>/dev/null || true)
+        GW_PROBE=$(grep -m1 "^fd01::" <<< "$probe" || true)
+        if [ -n "$GW_PROBE" ]; then
+            break
+        fi
+        sleep 1
+    done
+    if [ -n "$GW_PROBE" ]; then
+        check "$prefix: gateway DNS answers after restart" 0
+    else
+        check "$prefix: gateway DNS answers after restart" 1
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    sleep 1
+    local started_log rev_lines
+    started_log=$(docker logs --timestamps --since "$GW_STARTED" "$GATEWAY" 2>&1)
+    # The co-resident daemon logs its own "(rev ...) starting" line, so
+    # anchor on the gateway's name.
+    rev_lines=$(grep -cE "fips-gateway [^ ]+ \(rev ${expect_rev}\) starting" <<< "$started_log" || true)
+    if [ "$rev_lines" -eq 1 ]; then
+        check "$prefix: startup line reads rev ${expect_rev}) with no -dirty" 0
+    else
+        check "$prefix: startup line for rev ${expect_rev} (found $rev_lines)" 1
+        return 1
+    fi
+    GW_BASELINE=$(grep -c "Allocated virtual IP" <<< "$started_log" || true)
+    return 0
+}
+
+# The pool's compiled-in admission limits. A new name is refused past
+# MAPPING_CEILING live mappings, and past a burst of MAPPING_BURST new names
+# are admitted at MAPPING_RATE per second, so phases that create many
+# mappings retry the rate limit's refusals.
+POOL_RS="$SCRIPT_DIR/../../../src/gateway/pool.rs"
+
+# A compiled-in constant from pool.rs, or nothing if the line is not found.
+pool_const() {
+    sed -nE "s/^pub const $1: [a-z0-9]+ = ([0-9]+);$/\1/p" "$POOL_RS"
+}
+
+POOL_CEILING=$(pool_const MAPPING_CEILING)
+POOL_BURST=$(pool_const MAPPING_BURST)
+POOL_RATE=$(pool_const MAPPING_RATE)
+
+# Per-name retry bound for the driver, in seconds: a fixed 30 s. A bound
+# sized from the rate (workers x refill interval x 5) is 2 s at 10/s, shorter
+# than two of the driver's 1 to 1.5 s retry pauses, and never above 20 s for
+# any rate of 1/s or more; 30 s lets a name wait through many pauses. No run
+# has had a name reach it. Empty when the rate could not be read, which the
+# phases report.
+gw_retry_bound() {
+    [ -n "$POOL_RATE" ] && [ "$POOL_RATE" -gt 0 ] || return 0
+    echo 30
+    return 0
+}
+
+# Install the AAAA driver in the client: 4 closed-loop workers, one fresh
+# socket per query, counts printed as key=value. Given a retry bound in
+# seconds, a name answered SERVFAIL or not answered is asked again after a
+# pause of 1 to 1.5 s until it is answered or the bound has passed since its
+# first query; the exit status is 1 if any name was left unplaced. Without a
+# bound each name is asked once and the exit status is 0.
+gw_install_driver() {
+    docker exec -i "$CLIENT" sh -c 'cat > /tmp/gw_driver.py' <<'PYEOF'
+import random, socket, struct, sys, threading, time
+server = sys.argv[1]
+bound = float(sys.argv[2]) if len(sys.argv) > 2 else None
+names = [n.strip() for n in sys.stdin if n.strip()]
+lock = threading.Lock()
+counts = {"answered": 0, "servfail": 0, "timeout": 0, "other": 0,
+          "retries": 0, "unplaced": 0}
+def query(name):
+    qid = random.getrandbits(16)
+    pkt = struct.pack(">HHHHHH", qid, 0x0100, 1, 0, 0, 0)
+    for label in (name + ".fips").split("."):
+        raw = label.encode()
+        pkt += bytes([len(raw)]) + raw
+    pkt += b"\x00" + struct.pack(">HH", 28, 1)
+    s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
+    s.settimeout(6)
+    try:
+        s.sendto(pkt, (server, 53))
+        while True:
+            data, _ = s.recvfrom(4096)
+            if len(data) >= 12 and struct.unpack(">H", data[:2])[0] == qid:
+                break
+    except socket.timeout:
+        return "timeout"
+    finally:
+        s.close()
+    flags, _, ancount = struct.unpack(">HHH", data[2:8])
+    rcode = flags & 0xF
+    if rcode == 2:
+        return "servfail"
+    if rcode == 0 and ancount > 0:
+        return "answered"
+    return "other"
+def place(name):
+    first = time.monotonic()
+    while True:
+        outcome = query(name)
+        with lock:
+            counts[outcome] += 1
+        if bound is None or outcome == "answered":
+            return
+        if outcome == "other" or time.monotonic() - first > bound:
+            with lock:
+                counts["unplaced"] += 1
+            return
+        with lock:
+            counts["retries"] += 1
+        time.sleep(1 + random.random() * 0.5)
+def worker():
+    while True:
+        with lock:
+            if not names:
+                return
+            name = names.pop()
+        place(name)
+threads = [threading.Thread(target=worker) for _ in range(4)]
+for t in threads:
+    t.start()
+for t in threads:
+    t.join()
+print(" ".join(f"{k}={v}" for k, v in counts.items()))
+sys.exit(1 if counts["unplaced"] else 0)
+PYEOF
+}
+
 # Phase 11: NAT rebuild past the default netlink socket limits
 #
 # Every change rebuilds the whole fips_gateway table in one netlink batch.
@@ -484,10 +669,11 @@ fi
 # (the acks overflowed the receive buffer, after the commit) and past about
 # 313 (the batch overflowed the send buffer, and nothing was committed).
 # Drive 400 new names through a gateway whose mappings outlive the phase and
-# judge the result on the kernel's own table, not on the daemon's debug-level
+# judge the result on the kernel's own table, which is what a lost rebuild
-# success line, which the suite's log level does not show. Runs after phase
+# leaves wrong, not on the daemon's debug-level success line. The names go
-# 10, so the gateway container is stopped when it starts, and it leaves it
+# through the pool's rate limit, so the driver retries its refusals. Runs
-# stopped.
+# after phase 10, so the gateway container is stopped when it starts, and it
+# leaves it stopped.
 echo ""
 echo "Phase 11: NAT rebuild past default socket limits"
 
@@ -519,73 +705,10 @@ natbig_kernel() {
 }
 
 natbig_phase() {
-    local config_file="$GENERATED_DIR/gateway/node-a.yaml"
+    gw_long_lived_start "NAT batch" || return 0
-    local expect_rev
+    NATBIG_STARTED="$GW_STARTED"
-    expect_rev=$(git -C "$SCRIPT_DIR" rev-parse --short=10 HEAD)
+    local t0="$GW_T0"
-
+    local baseline="$GW_BASELINE"
-    # Rewrite in place (same inode): the container sees the host file through
-    # a single-file bind mount, which a replace-by-rename would leave behind.
-    python3 - "$config_file" <<'PYEOF'
-import sys, yaml
-path = sys.argv[1]
-with open(path, "r+") as f:
-    cfg = yaml.safe_load(f)
-    cfg["gateway"]["dns"]["ttl"] = 1800
-    cfg["gateway"]["pool_grace_period"] = 1800
-    f.seek(0)
-    yaml.dump(cfg, f, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False)
-    f.truncate()
-PYEOF
-
-    docker start "$GATEWAY" >/dev/null
-    NATBIG_STARTED=$(docker inspect -f '{{.State.StartedAt}}' "$GATEWAY")
-    local t0
-    t0=$(natbig_now)
-    echo "  Gateway started at $NATBIG_STARTED (expect rev $expect_rev)"
-
-    local seen_ttl seen_grace
-    seen_ttl=$(docker exec "$GATEWAY" grep -c "ttl: 1800" /etc/fips/fips.yaml || true)
-    seen_grace=$(docker exec "$GATEWAY" grep -c "pool_grace_period: 1800" /etc/fips/fips.yaml || true)
-    if [ "$seen_ttl" -ge 1 ] && [ "$seen_grace" -ge 1 ]; then
-        check "NAT batch: container sees ttl 1800 and grace 1800" 0
-    else
-        check "NAT batch: container config rewrite (ttl: $seen_ttl, grace: $seen_grace)" 1
-        return 0
-    fi
-
-    if wait_for_peers "$GATEWAY" 2 60; then
-        check "NAT batch: gateway peers after restart" 0
-    else
-        check "NAT batch: gateway peers after restart" 1
-        return 0
-    fi
-    local ready=false probe
-    for _ in $(seq 1 60); do
-        probe=$(docker exec "$CLIENT" dig +short AAAA "${NPUB_B}.fips" @${GW_DNS} 2>/dev/null || true)
-        if echo "$probe" | grep -q "^fd01::"; then
-            ready=true
-            break
-        fi
-        sleep 1
-    done
-    if [ "$ready" = true ]; then
-        check "NAT batch: gateway DNS answers after restart" 0
-    else
-        check "NAT batch: gateway DNS answers after restart" 1
-        return 0
-    fi
-
-    sleep 1
-    natbig_allocated
-    local rev_lines
-    rev_lines=$(grep -cE "fips-gateway [^ ]+ \(rev ${expect_rev}\) starting" <<< "$NATBIG_LOG" || true)
-    if [ "$rev_lines" -eq 1 ]; then
-        check "NAT batch: startup line reads rev ${expect_rev}) with no -dirty" 0
-    else
-        check "NAT batch: startup line for rev ${expect_rev} (found $rev_lines)" 1
-        return 0
-    fi
-    local baseline="$NATBIG_ALLOCATED"
     local target=$((baseline + NATBIG_NAMES))
     echo "  Baseline allocations after readiness: $baseline; target $target"
     if [ "$baseline" -ge 1 ]; then
@@ -608,56 +731,14 @@ PYEOF
         return 0
     fi
 
-    # Closed-loop AAAA driver, 4 workers, one fresh socket per query.
+    local retry_bound
-    docker exec -i "$CLIENT" sh -c 'cat > /tmp/gw_natbig.py' <<'PYEOF'
+    retry_bound=$(gw_retry_bound)
-import random, socket, struct, sys, threading
+    if [ -z "$retry_bound" ]; then
-server = sys.argv[1]
+        check "NAT batch: MAPPING_RATE read from pool.rs ('$POOL_RATE')" 1
-names = [n.strip() for n in sys.stdin if n.strip()]
+        rm -f "$names_file"
-lock = threading.Lock()
+        return 0
-counts = {"answered": 0, "servfail": 0, "timeout": 0, "other": 0}
+    fi
-def query(name):
+    gw_install_driver
-    qid = random.getrandbits(16)
-    pkt = struct.pack(">HHHHHH", qid, 0x0100, 1, 0, 0, 0)
-    for label in (name + ".fips").split("."):
-        raw = label.encode()
-        pkt += bytes([len(raw)]) + raw
-    pkt += b"\x00" + struct.pack(">HH", 28, 1)
-    s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
-    s.settimeout(6)
-    try:
-        s.sendto(pkt, (server, 53))
-        while True:
-            data, _ = s.recvfrom(4096)
-            if len(data) >= 12 and struct.unpack(">H", data[:2])[0] == qid:
-                break
-    except socket.timeout:
-        return "timeout"
-    finally:
-        s.close()
-    flags, _, ancount = struct.unpack(">HHH", data[2:8])
-    rcode = flags & 0xF
-    if rcode == 2:
-        return "servfail"
-    if rcode == 0 and ancount > 0:
-        return "answered"
-    return "other"
-def worker():
-    while True:
-        with lock:
-            if not names:
-                return
-            name = names.pop()
-        outcome = query(name)
-        with lock:
-            counts[outcome] += 1
-threads = [threading.Thread(target=worker) for _ in range(4)]
-for t in threads:
-    t.start()
-for t in threads:
-    t.join()
-print(" ".join(f"{k}={v}" for k, v in counts.items()))
-PYEOF
-
     local remaining out rc=0
     remaining=$((NATBIG_CAP - ($(natbig_now) - t0)))
     # timeout reads 0 as no limit and refuses a negative duration.
@@ -667,7 +748,7 @@ PYEOF
         return 0
     fi
     out=$(docker exec -i "$CLIENT" timeout "$remaining" \
-        python3 /tmp/gw_natbig.py "$GW_DNS" <"$names_file" 2>&1) || rc=$?
+        python3 /tmp/gw_driver.py "$GW_DNS" "$retry_bound" <"$names_file" 2>&1) || rc=$?
     rm -f "$names_file"
     echo "  [$(($(natbig_now) - t0))s] sent $NATBIG_NAMES names: $out (rc=$rc)"
     natbig_allocated
@@ -727,6 +808,278 @@ PYEOF
 
 natbig_phase
 
+# Phase 12: Pool admission limits
+#
+# The pool refuses a new name once it holds MAPPING_CEILING live mappings,
+# and past a burst of MAPPING_BURST admits new names at MAPPING_RATE per
+# second; the constants are read from src/gateway/pool.rs. Restart the gateway
+# with mappings that outlive the phase, fill the pool to the ceiling through
+# the rate limit, then ask once each for 20 more new names: all 20 must be
+# refused at the ceiling while an existing name still resolves. Without the
+# ceiling those 20 are allocated, whatever the creation rate. Reports rebuild
+# and tick durations on the way up and the shutdown duration at the ceiling.
+# Runs after phase 11, so the gateway container is stopped when it starts,
+# and it leaves it stopped.
+echo ""
+echo "Phase 12: Pool admission limits"
+
+LIMITS_EXTRA=20
+# Sized from both trees: with the limits the fill takes about
+# (ceiling - burst) / rate seconds plus retry pauses, and without them a
+# measurement run reached ceiling + 20 mappings far sooner.
+LIMITS_CAP=300
+# Shutdown took 2.4 s at 2000 mappings in a measurement run.
+LIMITS_STOP_TIME=30
+limits_now() {
+    date -u +%s
+}
+
+limits_slice() {
+    SLICE=$(docker logs --timestamps --since "$STARTED" "$GATEWAY" 2>&1)
+}
+
+# Figures below read lines a grep on the slice has already selected, so the
+# log-string guard sees each daemon-log literal. The Python matches no log
+# text itself: it takes the daemon's own timestamp and key=value fields.
+LIMITS_PY_FIELDS='
+import re, sys, statistics
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+ANSI = re.compile(r"\x1b\[[0-9;]*m")
+FIELD = re.compile(r"\b(\w+)=(\S+)")
+def parse(line):
+    parts = ANSI.sub("", line.rstrip("\n")).split(" ", 2)
+    whole, _, frac = parts[1].rstrip("Z").partition(".")
+    t = datetime.strptime(whole, "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S").replace(tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+    t = t.timestamp() + float("0." + (frac or "0"))
+    return t, dict(FIELD.findall(parts[2] if len(parts) > 2 else ""))
+'
+
+limits_phase() {
+    local ceiling="$POOL_CEILING" burst="$POOL_BURST" rate="$POOL_RATE"
+    if [ -n "$ceiling" ] && [ -n "$burst" ] && [ -n "$rate" ] && [ "$rate" -gt 0 ] \
+        && [ "$ceiling" -gt 1 ]; then
+        check "Limits: read ceiling $ceiling, burst $burst, rate $rate/s from pool.rs" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: constants in pool.rs (ceiling '$ceiling', burst '$burst', rate '$rate')" 1
+        return 0
+    fi
+    local retry_bound
+    retry_bound=$(gw_retry_bound)
+
+    gw_long_lived_start "Limits" || return 0
+    STARTED="$GW_STARTED"
+    local t0="$GW_T0"
+    local baseline="$GW_BASELINE"
+    if [ "$baseline" -eq 1 ]; then
+        check "Limits: the readiness probe holds the only mapping" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: mappings after readiness ($baseline, expected 1)" 1
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    # Names: real keys, since the daemon parses each one as a public key.
+    local fill=$((ceiling - baseline))
+    local total=$((fill + LIMITS_EXTRA))
+    local names_file have_names
+    names_file=$(mktemp)
+    docker exec "$GATEWAY" bash -c \
+        "for i in \$(seq 1 $total); do fipsctl keygen --stdout; done" \
+        | grep '^npub1' >"$names_file" || true
+    have_names=$(wc -l <"$names_file")
+    if [ "$have_names" -lt "$total" ]; then
+        check "Limits: generated $total names (got $have_names)" 1
+        rm -f "$names_file"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    gw_install_driver
+
+    # Fill: exactly ceiling - 1 new names, each retried through the rate
+    # limit's refusals. A name left unplaced, or the cap firing, fails.
+    local remaining out rc=0
+    remaining=$((LIMITS_CAP - ($(limits_now) - t0)))
+    if [ "$remaining" -le 0 ]; then
+        check "Limits: setup exceeded ${LIMITS_CAP}s cap" 1
+        rm -f "$names_file"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    out=$(sed -n "1,${fill}p" "$names_file" | docker exec -i "$CLIENT" timeout "$remaining" \
+        python3 /tmp/gw_driver.py "$GW_DNS" "$retry_bound" 2>&1) || rc=$?
+    echo "  [$(($(limits_now) - t0))s] fill of $fill names (retry bound ${retry_bound}s): $out (rc=$rc)"
+    if [ "$rc" -eq 0 ]; then
+        check "Limits: fill placed all $fill names" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: fill driver failed (rc $rc)" 1
+    fi
+    sleep 1
+    limits_slice
+    local rate_refused_fill
+    rate_refused_fill=$(grep -c "new-mapping rate limit reached" <<< "$SLICE" || true)
+
+    # Past the ceiling: one query per name, never retried.
+    rc=0
+    remaining=$((LIMITS_CAP - ($(limits_now) - t0)))
+    if [ "$remaining" -le 0 ]; then
+        check "Limits: fill exceeded ${LIMITS_CAP}s cap" 1
+        rm -f "$names_file"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    out=$(sed -n "$((fill + 1)),${total}p" "$names_file" | docker exec -i "$CLIENT" \
+        timeout "$remaining" python3 /tmp/gw_driver.py "$GW_DNS" 2>&1) || rc=$?
+    rm -f "$names_file"
+    echo "  [$(($(limits_now) - t0))s] $LIMITS_EXTRA names past the ceiling: $out (rc=$rc)"
+    local post_servfail
+    post_servfail=$(sed -nE 's/.*servfail=([0-9]+).*/\1/p' <<< "$out")
+    if [ "$rc" -eq 0 ] && [ "${post_servfail:-0}" -eq "$LIMITS_EXTRA" ]; then
+        check "Limits: all $LIMITS_EXTRA names past the ceiling got SERVFAIL" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: names past the ceiling (servfail '${post_servfail}', rc $rc)" 1
+    fi
+
+    local probe
+    probe=$(docker exec "$CLIENT" dig +short AAAA "${NPUB_B}.fips" @${GW_DNS} 2>/dev/null || true)
+    if [ "$(grep -m1 "^fd01::" <<< "$probe" || true)" = "$GW_PROBE" ]; then
+        check "Limits: NPUB_B still resolves to $GW_PROBE at the ceiling" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: NPUB_B at the ceiling (got '${probe:0:60}', had $GW_PROBE)" 1
+    fi
+
+    sleep 1
+    limits_slice
+    local allocated reclaimed ceiling_refused rate_refused nat_fail nat_rm_fail ndp_fail
+    allocated=$(grep -c "Allocated virtual IP" <<< "$SLICE" || true)
+    reclaimed=$(grep -c "Reclaimed virtual IP" <<< "$SLICE" || true)
+    ceiling_refused=$(grep -c "live-mapping ceiling reached" <<< "$SLICE" || true)
+    rate_refused=$(grep -c "new-mapping rate limit reached" <<< "$SLICE" || true)
+    nat_fail=$(grep -c "Failed to add NAT rules" <<< "$SLICE" || true)
+    nat_rm_fail=$(grep -c "Failed to remove NAT rules" <<< "$SLICE" || true)
+    ndp_fail=$(grep -c "Failed to add proxy NDP" <<< "$SLICE" || true)
+    echo "  Slice counts: allocated=$allocated reclaimed=$reclaimed" \
+        "ceiling_refused=$ceiling_refused rate_refused=$rate_refused_fill/$rate_refused" \
+        "nat_add_fail=$nat_fail nat_remove_fail=$nat_rm_fail ndp_fail=$ndp_fail"
+    if [ "$allocated" -eq "$ceiling" ]; then
+        check "Limits: live mappings stop at the ceiling ($allocated)" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: live mappings $allocated, ceiling $ceiling" 1
+    fi
+    if [ "$allocated" -gt 0 ]; then
+        if [ "$reclaimed" -eq 0 ]; then
+            check "Limits: no reclaims during the phase" 0
+        else
+            check "Limits: reclaims during the phase ($reclaimed)" 1
+        fi
+    else
+        check "Limits: allocations present in the slice (0)" 1
+    fi
+    if [ "$ceiling_refused" -ge "$LIMITS_EXTRA" ]; then
+        check "Limits: refusals logged as the ceiling ($ceiling_refused)" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: ceiling refusals logged ($ceiling_refused, expected >= $LIMITS_EXTRA)" 1
+    fi
+    # The rate limit must have refused during the fill, so its count is a
+    # live signal, and must refuse nothing after it: past the ceiling the
+    # ceiling is checked first.
+    if [ "$rate_refused_fill" -ge 1 ]; then
+        check "Limits: the rate limit refused during the fill ($rate_refused_fill)" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: rate refusals during the fill (0)" 1
+    fi
+    if [ "$rate_refused" -eq "$rate_refused_fill" ]; then
+        check "Limits: no rate refusal after the fill" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: rate refusals after the fill ($((rate_refused - rate_refused_fill)))" 1
+    fi
+    if [ $((nat_fail + nat_rm_fail + ndp_fail)) -eq 0 ]; then
+        check "Limits: no NAT or proxy NDP failure lines" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: failure lines (nat add $nat_fail, remove $nat_rm_fail, ndp $ndp_fail)" 1
+    fi
+
+    # Creations in any 10 s window of the fill can be at most a full burst
+    # plus 10 s of refill. The bound is exact, not approximate: the bucket
+    # holds at most burst whole tokens at the window's first creation and
+    # gains one per 1/rate s, so one more creation needs the daemon's log
+    # timestamps to lag its clock by a full token interval (100 ms at 10/s)
+    # more at one end of the window than the other. Do not loosen it for skew.
+    local bound=$((burst + 10 * rate)) most
+    most=$(grep "Allocated virtual IP" <<< "$SLICE" | python3 -c "$LIMITS_PY_FIELDS
+b, fill = int(sys.argv[1]), int(sys.argv[2])
+ts = sorted(parse(l)[0] for l in sys.stdin)[b:b + fill]
+most = j = 0
+for i in range(len(ts)):
+    while ts[i] - ts[j] > 10:
+        j += 1
+    most = max(most, i - j + 1)
+print(most)
+" "$baseline" "$fill" || true)
+    if [ -n "$most" ] && [ "$most" -le "$bound" ]; then
+        check "Limits: at most $most creations in any 10 s of the fill (bound $bound)" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: creations in a 10 s window of the fill ('$most', bound $bound)" 1
+    fi
+
+    local added_timed tick_timed
+    added_timed=$(grep "Added DNAT/SNAT rules" <<< "$SLICE" | grep -c "elapsed_us" || true)
+    tick_timed=$(grep "Pool tick" <<< "$SLICE" | grep -c "tick_us" || true)
+    if [ "$added_timed" -ge 1 ] && [ "$tick_timed" -ge 1 ]; then
+        check "Limits: rebuild and tick timing lines present" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: timing lines (rebuild $added_timed, tick $tick_timed)" 1
+    fi
+
+    echo "  --- Rebuild duration (elapsed_us over the 20 adds ending at each count) ---"
+    local targets=("$ceiling") rebuild_report
+    [ "$ceiling" -gt 500 ] && targets=(500 "$ceiling")
+    rebuild_report=$(grep "Added DNAT/SNAT rules" <<< "$SLICE" | python3 -c "$LIMITS_PY_FIELDS
+by_n = {}
+for l in sys.stdin:
+    _, f = parse(l)
+    if 'error' in f or 'elapsed_us' not in f:
+        continue
+    by_n[int(f['mappings'])] = int(f['elapsed_us'])
+missing = 0
+for t in map(int, sys.argv[1:]):
+    if t not in by_n:
+        missing += 1
+        print(f'  rebuild {t}: no successful add line with mappings={t}')
+        continue
+    xs = [by_n[n] for n in range(t - 19, t + 1) if n in by_n]
+    print(f'  rebuild {t}: n={len(xs)} median={statistics.median(xs):.0f}us max={max(xs)}us')
+print(f'REBUILD_MISSING={missing}')
+" "${targets[@]}" || true)
+    echo "$rebuild_report" | grep -v '^REBUILD_MISSING='
+    if echo "$rebuild_report" | grep -q '^REBUILD_MISSING=0$'; then
+        check "Limits: a successful add line at ${targets[*]} mappings" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: a successful add line at ${targets[*]} mappings" 1
+    fi
+
+    echo "  --- Ticks as they fell ---"
+    grep "Pool tick" <<< "$SLICE" | python3 -c "$LIMITS_PY_FIELDS
+for l in sys.stdin:
+    _, f = parse(l)
+    print(f\"  tick: mappings={f.get('mappings')} read_us={f.get('read_us')} tick_us={f.get('tick_us')}\")
+" || true
+
+    echo "  --- Shutdown at the ceiling ---"
+    docker stop --time="$LIMITS_STOP_TIME" "$GATEWAY" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    limits_slice
+    local shut_lines
+    shut_lines=$( { grep "fips-gateway shutting down" <<< "$SLICE"; \
+        grep "fips-gateway shutdown complete" <<< "$SLICE"; } || true)
+    if [ "$(echo "$shut_lines" | grep -c . || true)" -eq 2 ]; then
+        echo "$shut_lines" | python3 -c "$LIMITS_PY_FIELDS
+ts = [parse(l)[0] for l in sys.stdin]
+print(f'  shutdown duration: {ts[1] - ts[0]:.3f}s')
+" || true
+        check "Limits: gateway shutdown completed within ${LIMITS_STOP_TIME}s" 0
+    else
+        check "Limits: gateway shutdown completion line present" 1
+    fi
+    echo "  Phase time: $(($(limits_now) - t0))s"
+}
+
+limits_phase
+
 echo ""
 echo "=== Results: $PASSED passed, $FAILED failed ==="
 [ "$FAILED" -eq 0 ] && exit 0 || exit 1