3 files changed, 136 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/ops.py b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/ops.py
index 3dfdc23..4c759c8 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/ops.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/ops.py
@@ -362,7 +362,11 @@ async def list_groups(state: dict) -> dict:
             "has_gek": bool(ctx.get("gek")),
             "file_count": idx.count if idx else 0,
             "index_version": idx.version if idx else 0,
-            "roots": roots.describe() if roots else [],
+            # With paths: this answers the loopback API, which is the
+            # operator's own channel. `meshbay-node root list` printed "?" for
+            # every directory without it — it was reading a field the member
+            # form of this deliberately omits.
+            "roots": roots.describe(with_paths=True) if roots else [],
             "peers": sum(1 for p in peers.values() if p.get("group_id") == gid),
         })
     roster = state.get("roster")
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/roots.py b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/roots.py
index ffe801c..d288231 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/roots.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/roots.py
@@ -357,8 +357,14 @@ class RootSet:
                             "available" if live else "UNAVAILABLE", root.path)
         return changed
 
-    def describe(self) -> list[dict]:
-        """Per-root state for the index payload and the admin UI."""
+    def describe(self, *, with_paths: bool = False) -> list[dict]:
+        """
+        Per-root state for the index payload and the admin UI.
+
+        Deliberately no paths by default: this is what every member receives.
+        `with_paths=True` is the operator's own view, over a channel that is
+        already theirs alone (loopback + run token).
+        """
         out = []
         for r in self.roots:
             d: dict = {"name": r.name, "kind": r.kind,
@@ -368,6 +374,14 @@ class RootSet:
                         "ejected": r.ejected,
                         # Backward compat for MNP 1.0 clients
                         "upload": r.writable}
+            # `with_paths` is for the operator's *own* channels only — the
+            # loopback API and the CLI reading it, both of which already
+            # require being on this machine with the run token. A member is
+            # told what exists and whether it is readable, never where on the
+            # operator's disk it lives, and the index payload every member
+            # receives must keep calling this without the flag.
+            if with_paths:
+                d["path"] = str(r.path)
             out.append(d)
         return out
 
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_root_paths_are_operator_only.py b/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_root_paths_are_operator_only.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6ba2e08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/tests/test_root_paths_are_operator_only.py
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+"""
+Where a directory lives on the operator's disk is theirs, not the group's.
+
+`RootSet.describe()` feeds two very different audiences. The index payload goes
+to every member, and has always deliberately carried no paths — a member is
+told what exists and whether it is readable, not that the library sits in
+`/media/<the operator's name>/BACKUP2`. The loopback API answers the operator
+themselves, over a channel that already requires being on their machine with
+the run token, where the path is exactly what they are asking for.
+
+`meshbay-node root list` printed `?` for every directory because it read a
+field the member form omits. Nothing caught it: the CLI reads a dict, the
+payload is a dict, and neither end says what keys it owes the other.
+
+Both halves matter and they pull opposite ways, so both are asserted here — a
+test that only checked the operator gets paths would be satisfied by putting
+them in the member payload too.
+"""
+
+import inspect
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+from meshbay_node import daemon as daemon_mod
+from meshbay_node import ops
+from meshbay_node.roots import RootSet
+
+
+def _roots(tmp_path: Path) -> RootSet:
+    for name in ("Films", "Albums"):
+        (tmp_path / name).mkdir()
+    return RootSet.build([
+        {"path": str(tmp_path / "Films"), "writable": True},
+        {"path": str(tmp_path / "Albums"), "removable": True},
+    ])
+
+
+# ── The member's half ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def test_the_default_form_carries_no_path(tmp_path):
+    described = _roots(tmp_path).describe()
+    assert described, "no roots described"
+    assert not any("path" in d for d in described), (
+        "the index payload every member receives would carry the operator's "
+        "filesystem layout")
+
+
+def test_the_default_form_still_says_what_a_member_needs(tmp_path):
+    """The counter-property: dropping the path must not drop the rest."""
+    described = _roots(tmp_path).describe()
+    for d in described:
+        assert set(d) >= {"name", "kind", "available", "writable",
+                          "removable", "ejected"}
+
+
+def test_the_index_payload_is_built_without_paths():
+    """
+    Read from the source, because the alternative is asserting it about a
+    payload built by a test rather than by the node.
+    """
+    from meshbay_node.indexer import indexer as indexer_mod
+    source = inspect.getsource(indexer_mod)
+    for call in re.findall(r"roots\.describe\([^)]*\)", source):
+        assert "with_paths" not in call, (
+            f"the indexer builds the member-facing roots table as {call} — "
+            f"that payload goes to everyone in the group")
+
+
+# ── The operator's half ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def test_the_operator_form_carries_the_path(tmp_path):
+    described = _roots(tmp_path).describe(with_paths=True)
+    assert all(d.get("path") for d in described)
+    assert described[0]["path"] == str(tmp_path / "Films")
+
+
+def test_the_loopback_api_asks_for_paths():
+    """
+    `list_groups` answers the operator's own channel, and the CLI's `root list`
+    prints what it returns. Asking for the member form there is what printed a
+    column of question marks.
+    """
+    source = inspect.getsource(ops.list_groups)
+    assert "describe(with_paths=True)" in source, (
+        "list_groups uses the member form, so every path it reports is missing")
+
+
+def test_the_cli_only_reads_fields_the_payload_carries():
+    """
+    The gap this whole file exists for. The CLI reads a dict and the API
+    returns a dict; nothing between them says which keys are owed, so a name
+    that is simply absent prints as a placeholder and looks like a node
+    problem.
+    """
+    source = inspect.getsource(daemon_mod.main)
+    start = source.index('if args.command == "root":')
+    block = source[start:source.index('if args.command == "operator":', start)]
+
+    read = set(re.findall(r"r\.get\(['\"](\w+)['\"]", block))
+    read |= set(re.findall(r"r\[['\"](\w+)['\"]\]", block))
+    assert read, "the root CLI no longer reads the payload this way"
+
+    class _Any:
+        path = Path("/tmp/x")
+        name = "x"
+        kind = "generic"
+        writable = removable = ejected = False
+        available = True
+
+    offered = set(RootSet(roots=[_Any()]).describe(with_paths=True)[0])
+    assert read <= offered, (
+        f"the `root` CLI reads keys the loopback payload does not carry: "
+        f"{sorted(read - offered)}")