diff --git a/internal/check-composite-embed-knobs.mjs b/internal/check-composite-embed-knobs.mjs
index 09d68150b..d984edaef 100644
--- a/internal/check-composite-embed-knobs.mjs
+++ b/internal/check-composite-embed-knobs.mjs
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@
  * naming the composite and the knob; both restored, both pass. Removing the zero-request assertion
  * from the provider case makes it pass on a build that ignores the prop, which is what it is for.
  *
- * Exit: 0 pass or SKIP (no built tree, no browser, no baked token to test with) · 1 fail.
+ * Exit: 0 pass (or SKIP: no built tree / no browser) · 1 fail · 75 NOT MEASURED (every case skipped, e.g. no
+ *       token: set TEST_MAPBOX_TOKEN).
  */
 import { createServer } from 'node:http'
 import { spawn } from 'node:child_process'
@@ -92,7 +93,10 @@ if (!targets.length) {
 
 // The token to hand the partner page is the one the tree already bakes into its own leaves: this
 // gate must not invent a key, and a token that is not this tree's would 401 and look like our bug.
-const bakedToken = (() => {
+// The tree bakes no token since the auto engine (the repo ships none), so every tk case SKIPPED and every
+// provider case went UNMEASURED: a hollow PASS (rega, ded4b3c1). A seat that has a real public token passes
+// it as TEST_MAPBOX_TOKEN (as rega's checks do); otherwise a baked one is still used if a tree has it.
+const bakedToken = process.env.TEST_MAPBOX_TOKEN || (() => {
   for (const b of manifest.bundles || []) {
     for (const p of b.profiles || []) {
       if (!p.isMap || !p.iframeUrl) continue
@@ -227,4 +231,9 @@ if (fails.length) {
   console.error('  on a partner page — the case the published embed snippet is written for.')
   process.exit(1)
 }
+// A run in which no case measured anything is NOT MEASURED (exit 75), never a PASS.
+if (!lines.some((l) => /^\s*ok\b/.test(l))) {
+  console.log(`\nCOMPOSITE-EMBED-KNOBS: NOT MEASURED — every case skipped or went unmeasured${bakedToken ? '' : ' (no token: set TEST_MAPBOX_TOKEN to a public pk. token)'}.`)
+  process.exit(75)
+}
 console.log(`\nCOMPOSITE-EMBED-KNOBS: PASS — the host's token and provider reach every nested map.`)
diff --git a/plugin-designs/research-dashboard/scripts/check-dashboard-geocoder-provider.mjs b/plugin-designs/research-dashboard/scripts/check-dashboard-geocoder-provider.mjs
index 67b15a393..c2775cae6 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/research-dashboard/scripts/check-dashboard-geocoder-provider.mjs
+++ b/plugin-designs/research-dashboard/scripts/check-dashboard-geocoder-provider.mjs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
  *   maplibre   ZERO requests to api.mapbox.com.
  *   both       whatever search bars this leaf renders still produce suggestions — a zero bought by
  *              breaking search is not a fix. A leaf with NO bar now FAILS (it used to pass hollow);
- *              the default leaf is doxa-research-map/research-map, which mounts one (--leaf to change).
+ *              the default leaf is doxa-simple-map/doxa-simple-map, which mounts one on both engines (--leaf to change).
  *
  * Exit: 0 pass or SKIP (no built tree, no browser, no data) · 1 fail.
  */
@@ -53,7 +53,10 @@ const manifest = JSON.parse(readFileSync(MANIFEST, 'utf8'))
 // ★ A LEAF THAT MOUNTS THE SEARCH BAR, or the suggestion half proves nothing (2026-09-26: the
 // research-dashboard leaf renders no bar, so every run passed with "search bars: 0" — a hollow PASS).
 // Default: the research map, which mounts the library GeocoderComponent. --leaf <bundle>/<profile>.
-const leafArg = (() => { const i = process.argv.indexOf('--leaf'); return i >= 0 ? process.argv[i + 1] : 'doxa-research-map/research-map' })()
+// doxa-simple-map mounts the library GeocoderComponent under BOTH engines. research-map hides its bar
+// under MapLibre on purpose (research-map.vue hasGeocoder), so it cannot test the MapLibre half (rega,
+// ded4b3c1: 0 bars on both engines, since the tokenless Mapbox run did not draw either).
+const leafArg = (() => { const i = process.argv.indexOf('--leaf'); return i >= 0 ? process.argv[i + 1] : 'doxa-simple-map/doxa-simple-map' })()
 const [wantBundle, wantProfile] = leafArg.split('/')
 const bundle = (manifest.bundles || []).find((b) => b.bundle === wantBundle)
 const profile = bundle && (bundle.profiles || []).find((p) => p.iframeUrl && (!wantProfile || p.profile === wantProfile))
@@ -80,6 +83,14 @@ const lines = []
 try {
   for (const engine of ['maplibre', 'mapbox']) {
     const page = await browser.newPage({ viewport: { width: 1440, height: 1000 } })
+    // Mapbox needs a token to draw at all since the repo ships none (the auto engine). Give that run a host
+    // token: TEST_MAPBOX_TOKEN when the seat has one, else a well-formed FAKE (its tile requests are aborted,
+    // never sent; the engine still starts and the bar still mounts). The MapLibre run gets NO token.
+    if (engine === 'mapbox') {
+      const tk = process.env.TEST_MAPBOX_TOKEN || ['pk', Buffer.from(JSON.stringify({ u: 'geocoder-provider-check' })).toString('base64url'), 'c2ln'].join('.')
+      await page.addInitScript((t) => { window.MAP_TOKEN = t }, tk)
+      if (!process.env.TEST_MAPBOX_TOKEN) await page.route((u) => /(^|\.)mapbox\.com$/i.test(u.hostname) && u.searchParams.has('access_token'), (r) => r.abort())
+    }
     const mapboxCalls = []
     page.on('request', (r) => { const u = r.url(); if (u.includes('api.mapbox.com')) mapboxCalls.push(u) })
     await page.goto(`${LEAF}?provider=${engine}`, { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: 60000 })
diff --git a/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/scripts/check-linked-vocabulary.mjs b/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/scripts/check-linked-vocabulary.mjs
index 1bb673bb1..0803530f8 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/scripts/check-linked-vocabulary.mjs
+++ b/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/scripts/check-linked-vocabulary.mjs
@@ -99,6 +99,13 @@ try {
   for (const locale of LOCALES) {
   for (const engine of PROVIDERS) {
   const page = await browser.newPage({ viewport: { width: 1440, height: 1000 } })
+  // ★ LISTEN BEFORE THE PAGE RUNS. The grid reports its total on its FIRST filter pass, which can happen
+  // before an evaluate() after goto attaches a listener; the gate then read "the grid never reported a
+  // total" while the grid had reported one (rega, ded4b3c1). Every total is recorded from the start.
+  await page.addInitScript(() => {
+    window.__lvTotals = []
+    document.addEventListener('groups-filtered', (e) => { window.__lvTotals.push(e.detail?.total ?? null) }, true)
+  })
   await page.goto(`${LEAF}?provider=${engine}&lang=${locale}`, { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: 60000 })
 
   // Everything below runs in ONE evaluate: the totals have to be read from the same live page, and
@@ -129,9 +136,10 @@ try {
 
     // The grid reports its total on every filter pass. Listening is how a total is read here: the
     // rendered count line is localized and the DOM shape is not this gate's business.
-    let total = null
-    const seen = []
-    document.addEventListener('groups-filtered', (e) => { total = e.detail?.total ?? null; seen.push(total) }, true)
+    // Totals recorded since the page started (addInitScript above), so an early first pass is not missed.
+    const seen = window.__lvTotals || (window.__lvTotals = [])
+    let total = seen.length ? seen[seen.length - 1] : null
+    document.addEventListener('groups-filtered', (e) => { total = e.detail?.total ?? null }, true)
 
     // Wait for the first fetch to settle — a total of null means the data never arrived, which is a
     // SKIP (no network in the sandbox), not a failure of the mapping.