diff --git a/docs/design.md b/docs/design.md
index f29a2ad..7320532 100644
--- a/docs/design.md
+++ b/docs/design.md
@@ -321,6 +321,23 @@ Three rules fall out, and they are the part that was missing:
   policy does not recognise gets the confirm turn. A domain argues its way down
   to running freely; it never has to argue its way up to being gated.
 
+#### Capability ids
+
+A row is also read as a dotted capability id, `scope.domain.action` — the same
+shape Hexis has always spoken, which made the local surface the odd one out
+(Vikunja #452). `homelab.docker.restart`, `house.lock.unlock`,
+`mcp_vikunja.vikunja.delete_task`.
+
+Derived, not stored, for the reason the tier is: a derivation is one place to
+argue with. The name is still the primary key and nothing about lookup or
+execution changed — this is a way to READ the allowlist, not a second one.
+`/tools` groups the enabled rows by `scope.domain` and prints the id and the
+tier beside each, because a flat list stops answering "what can she do to the
+house" somewhere around fifteen rows.
+
+`MatchCapability` widens one way: `house` and `house.lock` both cover
+`house.lock.unlock`, and nothing lets a narrower id claim a wider pattern.
+
 The irreversible tier is refused rather than asked about, because a confirm
 turn would be theatre: everything that proposed the act — an STT guess, a
 router guess, a fuzzy allowlist match — is a guess, and a spoken "да" checks
diff --git a/internal/tool/capability.go b/internal/tool/capability.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5af177a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/tool/capability.go
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+package tool
+
+import (
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/ipc"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/mcp"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/smarthome"
+)
+
+// Capability ids (Vikunja #452).
+//
+// A tool row is flat: one name, one scope, one enabled bit. Permission is
+// therefore per name, and nothing groups. Hexis has spoken dotted capability
+// ids since it existed, so the local surface was the odd one out — and the
+// flat shape gets expensive around fifteen rows, when "what can she do to the
+// house" stops being a question anyone can answer by reading a list.
+//
+// A capability id is scope.domain.action: homelab.docker.restart,
+// house.lock.unlock, mcp_vikunja.vikunja.delete_task.
+//
+// DERIVED, not stored, for the same reason the risk tier is (risk.go): a
+// derivation is one place to argue with, a column is whatever the last person
+// to enable the row happened to type. The name stays the primary key and
+// nothing about lookup or execution changes — this is a way to READ the
+// allowlist, not a second allowlist.
+type Capability struct {
+	Scope  string
+	Domain string
+	Action string
+}
+
+// String renders the dotted id. An empty segment becomes "unknown" rather than
+// collapsing, so an id always has three parts and a prefix match cannot
+// accidentally widen.
+func (c Capability) String() string {
+	return capSegment(c.Scope) + "." + capSegment(c.Domain) + "." + capSegment(c.Action)
+}
+
+func capSegment(s string) string {
+	s = strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(s))
+	s = strings.ReplaceAll(s, ".", "_")
+	s = strings.ReplaceAll(s, " ", "_")
+	if s == "" {
+		return "unknown"
+	}
+	return s
+}
+
+// CapabilityOf derives the id of a tool row.
+//
+// The domain is the thing acted on and the action is what is done to it, read
+// off whichever dispatch shape the row uses:
+//
+//   - a house row: the Home Assistant entity domain and the service, so
+//     light.kitchen + turn_off becomes house.light.turn_off. Its scope is
+//     "house" whatever the row says, because the entity id is what decides
+//     what it touches.
+//   - an MCP row: the server handle and the remote tool name.
+//   - a process row: the program (path stripped) and its first subcommand, or
+//     the tool name when the argv carries no second word.
+func CapabilityOf(t ipc.Tool) Capability {
+	if entityID, service, ok := smarthome.ParseCmd(t.Cmd); ok {
+		domain := entityID
+		if i := strings.Index(entityID, "."); i > 0 {
+			domain = entityID[:i]
+		}
+		return Capability{Scope: "house", Domain: domain, Action: service}
+	}
+	if server, remote, ok := mcp.ParseCmd(t.Cmd); ok {
+		return Capability{Scope: "mcp_" + server, Domain: server, Action: remote}
+	}
+	scope := t.Scope
+	if scope == "" {
+		scope = "homelab"
+	}
+	if len(t.Cmd) == 0 {
+		// A proposal has no argv yet. It still gets an id, because "what did
+		// she ask for" is exactly the question the proposed list answers.
+		return Capability{Scope: scope, Domain: "unknown", Action: t.Name}
+	}
+	program := t.Cmd[0]
+	if i := strings.LastIndex(program, "/"); i >= 0 {
+		program = program[i+1:]
+	}
+	action := t.Name
+	if len(t.Cmd) > 1 && !strings.HasPrefix(t.Cmd[1], "-") {
+		action = t.Cmd[1]
+	}
+	return Capability{Scope: scope, Domain: program, Action: action}
+}
+
+// MatchCapability reports whether an id matches a pattern. A pattern is a
+// dotted id whose segments may be "*", and a pattern with fewer segments than
+// the id matches every id under it: "house" and "house.*" both cover
+// house.lock.unlock.
+//
+// Prefix widening is deliberate and one-directional. "house.lock" covers every
+// action on the locks; nothing lets a narrower id claim a wider pattern.
+func MatchCapability(pattern string, c Capability) bool {
+	want := strings.Split(strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(pattern)), ".")
+	got := strings.Split(c.String(), ".")
+	if len(want) > len(got) {
+		return false
+	}
+	for i, w := range want {
+		if w == "*" || w == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		if w != got[i] {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
+// GroupByDomain buckets rows by "scope.domain" and returns the buckets in a
+// stable order, which is what makes the allowlist readable past the point
+// where a flat list stops being.
+func GroupByDomain(tools []ipc.Tool) []CapabilityGroup {
+	byKey := map[string][]ipc.Tool{}
+	for _, t := range tools {
+		c := CapabilityOf(t)
+		byKey[capSegment(c.Scope)+"."+capSegment(c.Domain)] = append(byKey[capSegment(c.Scope)+"."+capSegment(c.Domain)], t)
+	}
+	out := make([]CapabilityGroup, 0, len(byKey))
+	for k, v := range byKey {
+		sort.Slice(v, func(i, j int) bool { return v[i].Name < v[j].Name })
+		out = append(out, CapabilityGroup{Prefix: k, Tools: v})
+	}
+	sort.Slice(out, func(i, j int) bool { return out[i].Prefix < out[j].Prefix })
+	return out
+}
+
+// CapabilityGroup — one scope.domain and the rows under it.
+type CapabilityGroup struct {
+	Prefix string
+	Tools  []ipc.Tool
+}