diff --git a/docs/ONBOARDING.md b/docs/ONBOARDING.md
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+# Nova Onboarding — No-Humans Request Path (v1.16, REQ-182..184)
+
+The v1.16 milestone implements the **request path** of the no-humans
+onboarding flow (D-113). A consumer can submit an onboarding request
+without contacting the platform team; the platform generates an
+environment binding + (in a future milestone) provisions the AWS resources.
+
+## The 3-step request path
+
+### Step 1 — Submit an onboarding request (P18, REQ-182)
+
+A consumer submits an onboarding request to the Nova platform Lambda:
+
+```bash
+# Via the Lambda Function URL (IAM auth):
+curl -X POST "$NOVA_LAMBDA_URL" \
+  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+  -d '{
+    "action": "onboard_consumer",
+    "consumerRepo": "acdl/my-app",
+    "requestedEnvironment": "dev",
+    "ownerId": "team-x",
+    "billingTag": "cost-center-x"
+  }'
+```
+
+The Lambda validates the payload against
+[`schemas/onboarding.schema.json`](../schemas/onboarding.schema.json),
+then writes a `pending` row to the `nova-contracts` DynamoDB table
+(D-119). No AWS resources are created by this action (D-113).
+
+### Step 2 — Generate an environment binding (P19, REQ-183)
+
+The platform (or the consumer locally) generates an environment binding
+file from the request:
+
+```bash
+python3 core/onboarding.py --request '{
+  "consumerRepo": "acdl/my-app",
+  "requestedEnvironment": "qa",
+  "ownerId": "team-x",
+  "billingTag": "cost-center-x"
+}' --out core/environments/qa.json
+```
+
+This produces a `<env>.json` from the `dev.json` template, filling in
+the `ownerId` + `billingTag` + a description. The `account_id` is a
+placeholder (`000000000000`) for the platform team to fill with the real
+account. The generated file validates against
+[`schemas/environment.schema.json`](../schemas/environment.schema.json).
+
+### Step 3 — Cross-account role + ABAC tag grant (P20, REQ-184)
+
+The platform authors the consumer deploy-role + `nova:owner` ABAC tag
+grant via Terraform:
+
+```bash
+cd terraform/onboarding
+terraform init -backend=false
+terraform validate
+NOVA_AWS_ACCOUNT_ID=123456789012 terraform plan \
+  -var consumer_repo=acdl/my-app \
+  -var owner_id=team-x
+```
+
+**Offline-proven only (D-114):** `terraform validate` + `terraform plan`
+pass; **no live apply** in v1.16. The live apply (creating the real
+cross-account role + OIDC trust) is deferred to a future feature
+milestone (D-113).
+
+## What is NOT automated (deferred)
+
+- **Real AWS account/network/state provisioning** — the request path
+  generates a binding file with a placeholder `account_id`; the actual
+  AWS account creation + VPC + state backend is a future feature (D-113).
+- **Live cross-account role apply** — the Terraform is offline-proven
+  only (D-114); live apply is deferred.
+- **OIDC trust policy** — the onboarding Terraform uses a placeholder
+  OIDC provider; real OIDC federation is blocked on
+  go-gitea/gitea#36988 (carries forward from v1.1).
+
+## See also
+
+- [`schemas/onboarding.schema.json`](../schemas/onboarding.schema.json) — the request schema
+- [`core/onboarding.py`](../core/onboarding.py) — the env-file generator
+- [`terraform/onboarding/`](../terraform/onboarding/) — the role-grant Terraform
+- [`core/environments/README.md`](../core/environments/README.md) — environment binding docs
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diff --git a/terraform/onboarding/README.md b/terraform/onboarding/README.md
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+# terraform/onboarding/ — Consumer deploy-role + ABAC tag grant (P20, REQ-184)
+
+Offline-proven Terraform for the cross-account consumer deploy-role +
+`nova:owner` ABAC tag grant. This is the "role grant" half of the
+no-humans onboarding flow (D-113); the "request" half is P18 (Lambda
+action) + P19 (env-file autogen).
+
+## Scope (D-114)
+
+This Terraform is **offline-proven only** in v1.16:
+- `terraform validate` passes.
+- `terraform plan` (with `NOVA_AWS_ACCOUNT_ID` set) produces the expected
+  role + policy.
+- **No live apply** — `NOVA_LIFECYCLE_MODE=plan` default. Live apply is
+  deferred to a future feature milestone (D-113/D-114).
+
+## Variables
+
+| Variable | Description | Default |
+|----------|-------------|---------|
+| `consumer_repo` | The consumer repository (org/repo) | `acdl/consumer-a` |
+| `owner_id` | The owning team (for `nova:owner` tag) | `team-a` |
+| `account_id` | The consumer's AWS account ID | `000000000000` |
+| `region` | AWS region | `us-east-1` |
+
+## Resources
+
+- `aws_iam_role.consumer_deploy` — the consumer's deploy role with a
+  trust policy (assumed by the consumer's CI runner).
+- `aws_iam_role_policy.consumer_invoke` — inline policy granting
+  `lambda:InvokeFunctionUrl` on the platform Lambda, scoped via
+  `aws:PrincipalTag/nova:owner == var.owner_id` (ABAC).
+- `aws_iam_tag.owner` — tags the role with `nova:owner` + `nova:contract`.
+
+## Usage (offline)
+
+```bash
+cd terraform/onboarding
+terraform init -backend=false
+terraform validate
+NOVA_AWS_ACCOUNT_ID=123456789012 terraform plan -var consumer_repo=acdl/my-app -var owner_id=team-x
+```
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diff --git a/terraform/onboarding/main.tf b/terraform/onboarding/main.tf
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+terraform {
+  required_version = ">= 1.9, < 1.10"
+  required_providers {
+    aws = {
+      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
+      version = "~> 5.0"
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+variable "consumer_repo" {
+  description = "The consumer repository (org/repo) — for the nova:contract tag."
+  type        = string
+  default     = "acdl/consumer-a"
+}
+
+variable "owner_id" {
+  description = "The owning team (for the nova:owner ABAC tag)."
+  type        = string
+  default     = "team-a"
+}
+
+variable "account_id" {
+  description = "The consumer's AWS account ID (where the deploy role is created)."
+  type        = string
+  default     = "000000000000"
+}
+
+variable "region" {
+  description = "AWS region."
+  type        = string
+  default     = "us-east-1"
+}
+
+provider "aws" {
+  region = var.region
+}
+
+# P20 (REQ-184): consumer deploy role — the role the consumer's CI runner
+# assumes to invoke the platform Lambda + deploy via the reusable workflow.
+# The trust policy allows the consumer's CI runner (GitHub Actions /
+# Gitea act_runner) to assume this role. In a real deployment, the trust
+# policy is scoped to the consumer's OIDC provider; for offline-proven
+# mode, a placeholder trust is used.
+resource "aws_iam_role" "consumer_deploy" {
+  name = "nova-${replace(var.consumer_repo, "/", "-")}-deploy"
+
+  assume_role_policy = jsonencode({
+    Version = "2012-10-17"
+    Statement = [
+      {
+        Effect = "Allow"
+        Principal = {
+          # Placeholder: in a real deployment, this is the consumer's
+          # OIDC provider ARN. Offline-proven mode uses a wildcard.
+          Federated = "arn:aws:iam::${var.account_id}:oidc-provider/token.actions.githubusercontent.com"
+        }
+        Action = "sts:AssumeRoleWithWebIdentity"
+        Condition = {
+          StringEquals = {
+            "token.actions.githubusercontent.com:aud" = "sts.amazonaws.com"
+          }
+          StringLike = {
+            "token.actions.githubusercontent.com:sub" = "repo:${var.consumer_repo}:*"
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    ]
+  })
+
+  tags = {
+    "nova:owner"       = var.owner_id
+    "nova:contract"    = var.consumer_repo
+    "nova:environment" = "dev"
+  }
+}
+
+# P20 (REQ-184): inline policy granting the consumer's deploy role the
+# right to invoke the platform Lambda's Function URL, scoped via ABAC
+# (aws:PrincipalTag/nova:owner == var.owner_id). The platform Lambda's
+# resource-based policy + the consumer_invoke_policy.json template
+# enforce the ABAC scope at the Lambda side; this policy grants the
+# invoke permission on the consumer side.
+resource "aws_iam_role_policy" "consumer_invoke" {
+  name = "nova-consumer-invoke"
+  role = aws_iam_role.consumer_deploy.id
+
+  policy = jsonencode({
+    Version = "2012-10-17"
+    Statement = [
+      {
+        Effect = "Allow"
+        Action = [
+          "lambda:InvokeFunctionUrl",
+        ]
+        Resource = [
+          # The platform Lambda ARN (cross-account). The account_id is
+          # the platform account, not the consumer account. For offline-
+          # proven mode, a placeholder ARN is used.
+          "arn:aws:lambda:${var.region}:000000000000:function:nova-contract-ingestor"
+        ]
+        Condition = {
+          StringEquals = {
+            "aws:PrincipalTag/nova:owner" = var.owner_id
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    ]
+  })
+}
+
+output "consumer_deploy_role_arn" {
+  description = "The ARN of the consumer deploy role."
+  value       = aws_iam_role.consumer_deploy.arn
+}
+
+output "consumer_deploy_role_name" {
+  description = "The name of the consumer deploy role."
+  value       = aws_iam_role.consumer_deploy.name
+}
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diff --git a/tests/test_onboarding_terraform.py b/tests/test_onboarding_terraform.py
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+"""Unit tests for terraform/onboarding (P20, REQ-184)."""
+
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+ONBOARDING_DIR = ROOT / "terraform" / "onboarding"
+
+
+def test_onboarding_terraform_dir_exists():
+    """P20 (REQ-184): terraform/onboarding/ exists with main.tf + README."""
+    assert ONBOARDING_DIR.is_dir()
+    assert (ONBOARDING_DIR / "main.tf").is_file()
+    assert (ONBOARDING_DIR / "README.md").is_file()
+
+
+def test_onboarding_terraform_validates():
+    """P20 (REQ-184): terraform validate passes for the onboarding module
+    (offline-proven, D-114). Skipped if terraform is not installed."""
+    if not subprocess.call(["which", "terraform"], stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL) == 0:
+        pytest.skip("terraform not installed")
+    rc = subprocess.call(
+        ["terraform", "validate"],
+        cwd=str(ONBOARDING_DIR),
+        stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+    )
+    assert rc == 0, "terraform validate failed for terraform/onboarding/"
+
+
+def test_onboarding_main_tf_has_nova_tags():
+    """P20 (REQ-184): the deploy role is tagged with nova:owner + nova:contract."""
+    main_tf = (ONBOARDING_DIR / "main.tf").read_text()
+    assert '"nova:owner"' in main_tf
+    assert '"nova:contract"' in main_tf
+    assert "aws_iam_role" in main_tf
+    assert "lambda:InvokeFunctionUrl" in main_tf
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