diff --git a/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/browser.rs b/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/browser.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7846176
--- /dev/null
+++ b/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/browser.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,323 @@
+//! Browser validator — proving a payload *executed*, not that it appeared.
+//!
+//! A payload echoed into HTML is reflection. It becomes cross-site scripting
+//! only when a browser parses that response and runs it, and the gap between
+//! the two is where most XSS false positives live: the value lands inside an
+//! attribute that is never evaluated, inside a `<textarea>`, HTML-encoded on
+//! the way out, or blocked by CSP. Every one of those looks identical to a
+//! string match against the response body.
+//!
+//! So [`XssValidator`](crate::validation::XssValidator) refuses to confirm
+//! without `browser_executed` and `marker_observed`, and this module is what
+//! sets them: a real Chromium, driven by Playwright, loading the URL and
+//! reporting whether a marker **the harness chose** came back through a channel
+//! that only executing code can reach.
+//!
+//! ## Why a marker, and why these channels
+//!
+//! The marker is generated per attempt (see [`crate::validation::canary`]), so
+//! observing it cannot be coincidence — the target has no way to produce that
+//! string on its own. It is reported through whichever channel fires first:
+//!
+//! | channel | what it proves |
+//! |---------|----------------|
+//! | `dialog` | `alert()`/`confirm()`/`prompt()` ran with our marker as its message |
+//! | `title` | script assigned `document.title` — execution with no dialog to dismiss |
+//! | `global` | script wrote `window.__neurosploit` |
+//! | `console` | script called `console.log` (weakest: a page could log the reflected value itself, so it is reported and never treated as decisive on its own) |
+//!
+//! ## Degrading honestly
+//!
+//! Node or Playwright may be absent. In that case the result says
+//! `available: false` and nothing is confirmed — the one thing this module must
+//! never do is let a missing tool read as a missing vulnerability, or worse, as
+//! a present one.
+
+use crate::scope::{Action, ScopePolicy};
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use std::time::Duration;
+
+/// What the browser saw.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
+pub struct BrowserResult {
+    /// A browser actually ran. False means "we could not look", never "nothing
+    /// happened".
+    pub available: bool,
+    /// Script from the payload executed.
+    pub executed: bool,
+    /// The harness's marker was observed at runtime.
+    pub marker_observed: bool,
+    /// Which channel carried it: dialog · title · global · console.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub channel: String,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub console: Vec<String>,
+    /// Path to the screenshot taken at the moment of observation.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub screenshot: String,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub notes: Vec<String>,
+}
+
+impl BrowserResult {
+    /// Did this run produce proof of execution?
+    ///
+    /// A console line alone does not: a page can log the value it reflected
+    /// without ever executing it.
+    pub fn proves_execution(&self) -> bool {
+        self.available && self.executed && self.marker_observed && self.channel != "console"
+    }
+    fn unavailable(note: &str) -> Self {
+        BrowserResult { available: false, notes: vec![note.to_string()], ..Default::default() }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Payloads that, if they execute, report the marker through a channel this
+/// module watches.
+///
+/// They are deliberately *self-reporting* rather than generic (`<script>alert(1)</script>`
+/// proves nothing we can attribute), and they cover the contexts a reflected
+/// value usually lands in: raw HTML, inside an attribute, inside an existing
+/// script, and as a URL.
+pub fn xss_payloads(marker: &str) -> Vec<String> {
+    let m = marker;
+    vec![
+        format!("<script>document.title='{m}';window.__neurosploit='{m}'</script>"),
+        format!("\"><script>document.title='{m}';window.__neurosploit='{m}'</script>"),
+        format!("<img src=x onerror=\"document.title='{m}';window.__neurosploit='{m}'\">"),
+        format!("'\"><svg/onload=\"document.title='{m}';window.__neurosploit='{m}'\">"),
+        format!("javascript:document.title='{m}'"),
+        format!("';document.title='{m}';//"),
+        format!("</textarea><script>document.title='{m}'</script>"),
+        format!("{{{{constructor.constructor(\"document.title='{m}'\")()}}}}"),
+    ]
+}
+
+/// The driver script. Written to a temp file and run with `node`.
+///
+/// It reports a single JSON line on stdout so the Rust side never has to parse
+/// Playwright's own chatter, and it takes a screenshot only when it observed
+/// something — an image of a page that did nothing is not evidence.
+fn driver_js() -> &'static str {
+    r#"
+const { chromium } = require('playwright');
+const [,, url, marker, shotPath, waitMs] = process.argv;
+(async () => {
+  const out = { available: true, executed: false, marker_observed: false, channel: '', console: [], screenshot: '', notes: [] };
+  let browser;
+  try {
+    browser = await chromium.launch({ args: ['--no-sandbox'] });
+    const ctx = await browser.newContext({ ignoreHTTPSErrors: true });
+    const page = await ctx.newPage();
+
+    // A dialog blocks the page until it is handled; handling it is also how we
+    // read its message.
+    page.on('dialog', async (d) => {
+      const msg = d.message() || '';
+      if (msg.includes(marker)) { out.executed = true; out.marker_observed = true; out.channel = out.channel || 'dialog'; }
+      try { await d.dismiss(); } catch {}
+    });
+    page.on('console', (m) => {
+      const t = m.text();
+      if (out.console.length < 40) out.console.push(t);
+      if (t.includes(marker)) { out.executed = true; out.marker_observed = true; out.channel = out.channel || 'console'; }
+    });
+    page.on('pageerror', (e) => { if (out.console.length < 40) out.console.push('pageerror: ' + e.message); });
+
+    await page.goto(url, { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: Number(waitMs) });
+    // Give deferred handlers (onerror, onload, timers) a chance to run.
+    await page.waitForTimeout(Math.min(2500, Number(waitMs) / 2));
+
+    const title = await page.title().catch(() => '');
+    if (title.includes(marker)) { out.executed = true; out.marker_observed = true; out.channel = out.channel || 'title'; }
+    const global = await page.evaluate(() => window.__neurosploit || '').catch(() => '');
+    if (String(global).includes(marker)) { out.executed = true; out.marker_observed = true; out.channel = out.channel || 'global'; }
+
+    // Reflection without execution is worth recording: it tells the operator
+    // the input reaches the response and the context is what blocked it.
+    if (!out.executed) {
+      const html = await page.content().catch(() => '');
+      if (html.includes(marker)) out.notes.push('marker is reflected in the DOM but did not execute — encoded, non-executing context, or blocked by CSP');
+    }
+    if (out.marker_observed && shotPath) {
+      try { await page.screenshot({ path: shotPath, fullPage: false }); out.screenshot = shotPath; } catch {}
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    out.notes.push('browser error: ' + (e && e.message ? e.message : String(e)));
+  } finally {
+    try { if (browser) await browser.close(); } catch {}
+    process.stdout.write('NSJSON' + JSON.stringify(out) + 'NSEND');
+  }
+})();
+"#
+}
+
+/// Pull the driver's result out of its stdout.
+///
+/// Playwright and npx print their own noise, so the payload is delimited rather
+/// than assumed to be the whole stream.
+pub fn parse_result(stdout: &str) -> Option<BrowserResult> {
+    let start = stdout.find("NSJSON")? + "NSJSON".len();
+    let end = stdout[start..].find("NSEND")? + start;
+    serde_json::from_str(&stdout[start..end]).ok()
+}
+
+pub struct BrowserProbe {
+    policy: ScopePolicy,
+    timeout: Duration,
+}
+
+impl BrowserProbe {
+    pub fn new(policy: ScopePolicy) -> Self {
+        BrowserProbe { policy, timeout: Duration::from_secs(30) }
+    }
+
+    pub fn with_timeout(mut self, t: Duration) -> Self {
+        self.timeout = t;
+        self
+    }
+
+    /// Is a browser usable on this machine?
+    pub fn available() -> bool {
+        which("node") && (playwright_installed() || which("npx"))
+    }
+
+    /// Load `url` in a real browser and report whether `marker` executed.
+    ///
+    /// The scope guard runs first: driving a browser is still sending traffic,
+    /// and a validator that wanders off-target while confirming a finding would
+    /// undo the whole point of having a boundary.
+    pub async fn confirm_execution(&self, url: &str, marker: &str, shot: Option<&str>) -> BrowserResult {
+        let decision = self.policy.check(url, Action::Exploit);
+        if !decision.allowed() {
+            return BrowserResult::unavailable(&format!("scope guard refused the browser check: {}", decision.reason()));
+        }
+        if !Self::available() {
+            return BrowserResult::unavailable(
+                "no browser available — install node and `npx playwright install chromium`. Nothing is confirmed without one.",
+            );
+        }
+
+        let dir = std::env::temp_dir().join(format!("ns-browser-{}", std::process::id()));
+        if std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir).is_err() {
+            return BrowserResult::unavailable("could not create a temp dir for the browser driver");
+        }
+        let script = dir.join("ns-xss-probe.js");
+        if std::fs::write(&script, driver_js()).is_err() {
+            return BrowserResult::unavailable("could not write the browser driver");
+        }
+
+        let ms = self.timeout.as_millis().to_string();
+        let mut cmd = tokio::process::Command::new("node");
+        cmd.arg(&script).arg(url).arg(marker).arg(shot.unwrap_or("")).arg(&ms);
+        cmd.kill_on_drop(true);
+        cmd.stdout(std::process::Stdio::piped()).stderr(std::process::Stdio::piped());
+
+        let run = tokio::time::timeout(self.timeout + Duration::from_secs(10), async {
+            cmd.output().await
+        })
+        .await;
+
+        let output = match run {
+            Ok(Ok(o)) => o,
+            Ok(Err(e)) => return BrowserResult::unavailable(&format!("could not start node: {e}")),
+            Err(_) => return BrowserResult::unavailable("the browser check timed out"),
+        };
+        let stdout = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout);
+        match parse_result(&stdout) {
+            Some(r) => r,
+            None => {
+                let err = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
+                let hint = if err.contains("Cannot find module 'playwright'") {
+                    "playwright is not installed — run `npx playwright install chromium`"
+                } else {
+                    "the browser driver produced no result"
+                };
+                BrowserResult::unavailable(&format!("{hint}: {}", err.chars().take(200).collect::<String>()))
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+fn which(bin: &str) -> bool {
+    std::env::var_os("PATH")
+        .map(|p| std::env::split_paths(&p).any(|d| d.join(bin).is_file()))
+        .unwrap_or(false)
+}
+
+fn playwright_installed() -> bool {
+    // A local install is what makes the driver's `require` work without a
+    // network round trip on every check.
+    ["node_modules/playwright", "node_modules/.bin/playwright"]
+        .iter()
+        .any(|p| std::path::Path::new(p).exists())
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn every_payload_carries_the_marker_and_a_self_report() {
+        let m = crate::validation::canary("nsxss");
+        for p in xss_payloads(&m) {
+            assert!(p.contains(&m), "payload must carry the marker: {p}");
+            assert!(
+                p.contains("document.title") || p.contains("__neurosploit"),
+                "a payload that does not report itself proves nothing we can attribute: {p}"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn payloads_cover_the_contexts_a_value_lands_in() {
+        let p = xss_payloads("M");
+        let all = p.join(" ");
+        assert!(all.contains("\"><script"), "attribute break-out");
+        assert!(all.contains("onerror"), "event handler");
+        assert!(all.contains("javascript:"), "URL context");
+        assert!(all.contains("</textarea>"), "raw-text element");
+        assert!(all.contains("constructor.constructor"), "template expression");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_console_hit_alone_is_not_proof_of_execution() {
+        let r = BrowserResult { available: true, executed: true, marker_observed: true, channel: "console".into(), ..Default::default() };
+        assert!(!r.proves_execution(), "a page can log the value it reflected without running it");
+        let r = BrowserResult { channel: "dialog".into(), ..r };
+        assert!(r.proves_execution());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn an_unavailable_browser_confirms_nothing() {
+        let r = BrowserResult::unavailable("node missing");
+        assert!(!r.available && !r.proves_execution());
+        // The distinction that matters: this is "we could not look", and it
+        // must never read as either a clean result or a finding.
+        assert!(!r.executed && !r.marker_observed);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn the_driver_result_is_parsed_out_of_surrounding_noise() {
+        let out = "npm warn something\nDownloading Chromium...\nNSJSON{\"available\":true,\"executed\":true,\"marker_observed\":true,\"channel\":\"dialog\",\"console\":[],\"screenshot\":\"\",\"notes\":[]}NSEND\ntrailing chatter";
+        let r = parse_result(out).expect("must find the delimited payload");
+        assert!(r.proves_execution());
+        assert_eq!(r.channel, "dialog");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn garbage_output_yields_no_result_rather_than_a_default_one() {
+        assert!(parse_result("playwright exploded").is_none());
+        assert!(parse_result("NSJSON{not json}NSEND").is_none());
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn an_out_of_scope_url_is_refused_before_a_browser_starts() {
+        let mut policy = ScopePolicy::for_target("https://app.example.com/");
+        policy.soft.max_requests_per_minute = 0;
+        let probe = BrowserProbe::new(policy);
+        let r = probe.confirm_execution("https://evil.test/x", "M", None).await;
+        assert!(!r.available);
+        assert!(r.notes[0].contains("scope guard refused"), "{:?}", r.notes);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/lib.rs b/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/lib.rs
index 2bdd6a7..3782c58 100644
--- a/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/lib.rs
+++ b/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/lib.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ pub mod agents;
 pub mod attack_graph;
 pub mod audit;
 pub mod belief;
+pub mod browser;
 pub mod capability;
 pub mod claims;
 pub mod creds;
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ pub use memory::{Memory, Query as MemoryQuery, Tier as MemoryTier};
 pub use pool::{ModelPool, Task};
 pub use audit::{AuditLog, AuditRecord, KillReason, KillSwitch};
 pub use capability::{Capability, TokenError};
+pub use browser::{BrowserProbe, BrowserResult};
 pub use claims::{Claim, ClaimSet, ClaimStatus, Decision, EvidenceLedger};
 pub use policy::{Act, ActionKind, BlastRadius, EngagementPolicy, Environment, Protocol, Risk, RiskDecision, SafetyPolicy};
 pub use replay::{ReplayEngine, ReqSpec};
diff --git a/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/replay.rs b/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/replay.rs
index 17e98f6..704952f 100644
--- a/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/replay.rs
+++ b/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/replay.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 //!   the report; a 40MB response is not evidence, it is a liability.
 
 use crate::scope::ScopePolicy;
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use crate::validation::{Evidence, Exchange};
 use std::collections::BTreeMap;
 use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
@@ -249,6 +250,197 @@ impl ReplayEngine {
     }
 }
 
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Effect layers
+//
+// The engagement that motivated this recorded 25 accepted POSTs and concluded
+// "reset email flooding". Those are different facts at different layers, and
+// the pipeline had no way to say so: a request being accepted is not a state
+// change, and a state change is not a message leaving the building.
+//
+//   request_effect      the response: status, headers, latency, body delta
+//   application_effect  something changed inside: a record, a token, a queued job
+//   external_effect     something left: an email delivered, a webhook fired
+//
+// Each layer needs its own observation. The harness can measure the first
+// directly, the second with a read-back, and the third only through a channel
+// it controls (a mailbox it owns, an OOB callback). Anything it cannot observe
+// is recorded as NOT OBSERVED rather than inferred — which is exactly the line
+// the agent crossed.
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Which layer an observation belongs to.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "kebab-case")]
+pub enum EffectLayer {
+    Request,
+    Application,
+    External,
+}
+
+impl EffectLayer {
+    pub fn as_str(self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            EffectLayer::Request => "request_effect",
+            EffectLayer::Application => "application_effect",
+            EffectLayer::External => "external_effect",
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// What was seen at one layer — or that nothing was looked at.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
+pub struct EffectObservation {
+    pub layer: EffectLayer,
+    /// True only when the harness itself observed it.
+    pub observed: bool,
+    pub detail: String,
+    /// Evidence ledger ids, when the caller is building a claim set.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub evidence: Vec<String>,
+}
+
+impl EffectObservation {
+    pub fn seen(layer: EffectLayer, detail: impl Into<String>) -> Self {
+        EffectObservation { layer, observed: true, detail: detail.into(), evidence: Vec::new() }
+    }
+    /// Not observed, with the reason. "We did not look" and "we looked and saw
+    /// nothing" are both recorded here, and neither is evidence of absence of
+    /// the effect — only of its demonstration.
+    pub fn not_seen(layer: EffectLayer, why: impl Into<String>) -> Self {
+        EffectObservation { layer, observed: false, detail: why.into(), evidence: Vec::new() }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Everything observed about one interaction, layer by layer.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
+pub struct EffectReport {
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub observations: Vec<EffectObservation>,
+}
+
+impl EffectReport {
+    pub fn push(&mut self, o: EffectObservation) {
+        self.observations.push(o);
+    }
+    pub fn observed(&self, layer: EffectLayer) -> bool {
+        self.observations.iter().any(|o| o.layer == layer && o.observed)
+    }
+    /// The deepest layer actually demonstrated. This is what a severity or an
+    /// impact claim may be built on — and nothing deeper.
+    pub fn deepest_observed(&self) -> Option<EffectLayer> {
+        [EffectLayer::External, EffectLayer::Application, EffectLayer::Request]
+            .into_iter()
+            .find(|l| self.observed(*l))
+    }
+    /// One line per layer, for the evidence section of a report.
+    pub fn summary(&self) -> String {
+        let mut out = String::new();
+        for layer in [EffectLayer::Request, EffectLayer::Application, EffectLayer::External] {
+            let line = self
+                .observations
+                .iter()
+                .find(|o| o.layer == layer)
+                .map(|o| format!("{} {}", if o.observed { "observed:" } else { "NOT observed:" }, o.detail))
+                .unwrap_or_else(|| "not examined".to_string());
+            out.push_str(&format!("  {:<20} {line}\n", layer.as_str()));
+        }
+        out
+    }
+}
+
+impl ReplayEngine {
+    /// Re-run an interaction and record what it did at every layer the harness
+    /// can reach.
+    ///
+    /// `verify` is a read-back request that reveals an application effect (the
+    /// record as it now stands, the account's state, the audit endpoint).
+    /// `marker` is a value expected to appear there if the write took. Without
+    /// a verification request the application layer is honestly reported as
+    /// unexamined — the alternative, inferring it from a 200, is the mistake
+    /// this whole layering exists to prevent.
+    pub async fn observe_effects(
+        &self,
+        action: &ReqSpec,
+        verify: Option<&ReqSpec>,
+        marker: Option<&str>,
+    ) -> (EffectReport, Option<Exchange>) {
+        let mut report = EffectReport::default();
+
+        let before = match verify {
+            Some(v) => self.send(v).await.ok(),
+            None => None,
+        };
+
+        let acted = match self.send(action).await {
+            Ok(x) => x,
+            Err(e) => {
+                report.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(EffectLayer::Request, format!("the request could not be sent: {e}")));
+                report.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(EffectLayer::Application, "no request, so no application effect to look for"));
+                report.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(EffectLayer::External, "no request, so no external effect to look for"));
+                return (report, None);
+            }
+        };
+        report.push(EffectObservation::seen(
+            EffectLayer::Request,
+            format!("{} {} → {} · {} bytes · {} ms", acted.method, acted.url, acted.status, acted.len(), acted.elapsed_ms),
+        ));
+
+        match verify {
+            None => report.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(
+                EffectLayer::Application,
+                "no read-back was performed — a response status does not show whether state changed",
+            )),
+            Some(v) => match self.send(v).await {
+                Err(e) => report.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(EffectLayer::Application, format!("the read-back failed: {e}"))),
+                Ok(after) => {
+                    let marker_hit = marker.map(|m| after.body.contains(m) && !before.as_ref().map(|b| b.body.contains(m)).unwrap_or(false));
+                    match marker_hit {
+                        Some(true) => report.push(EffectObservation::seen(
+                            EffectLayer::Application,
+                            format!("the read-back now contains the injected value ({})", marker.unwrap_or("")),
+                        )),
+                        Some(false) => report.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(
+                            EffectLayer::Application,
+                            "the read-back does not contain the injected value — the request was accepted and the change was not persisted",
+                        )),
+                        None => {
+                            // No marker to look for: fall back to whether the
+                            // resource changed at all, which is weaker and says so.
+                            let changed = before
+                                .as_ref()
+                                .map(|b| b.status != after.status || b.body != after.body)
+                                .unwrap_or(false);
+                            if changed {
+                                report.push(EffectObservation::seen(
+                                    EffectLayer::Application,
+                                    format!("the resource differs after the request ({} → {}, {} → {} bytes)", before.as_ref().map(|b| b.status).unwrap_or(0), after.status, before.as_ref().map(|b| b.len()).unwrap_or(0), after.len()),
+                                ));
+                            } else {
+                                report.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(
+                                    EffectLayer::Application,
+                                    "the resource is unchanged after the request",
+                                ));
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            },
+        }
+
+        // The harness has no mailbox and no callback listener of its own yet, so
+        // it cannot see this layer. Saying that plainly is the point: an
+        // unobserved external effect must never be inferred from an accepted
+        // request.
+        report.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(
+            EffectLayer::External,
+            "no channel the harness controls (mailbox, OOB callback) was watching — delivery of mail, notifications or downstream jobs was not observed",
+        ));
+
+        (report, Some(acted))
+    }
+}
+
 /// Rebuild a request spec from a recorded exchange.
 pub fn spec_of(x: &Exchange) -> ReqSpec {
     ReqSpec {
@@ -355,3 +547,56 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod effect_tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn an_accepted_request_is_not_an_application_effect() {
+        let mut r = EffectReport::default();
+        r.push(EffectObservation::seen(EffectLayer::Request, "POST /reset → 302"));
+        r.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(EffectLayer::Application, "no read-back was performed"));
+        r.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(EffectLayer::External, "no mailbox watched"));
+        assert!(r.observed(EffectLayer::Request));
+        assert!(!r.observed(EffectLayer::Application));
+        // The deepest thing demonstrated is the request — an impact claim may
+        // be built on that and nothing further.
+        assert_eq!(r.deepest_observed(), Some(EffectLayer::Request));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn the_summary_says_not_observed_rather_than_staying_silent() {
+        let mut r = EffectReport::default();
+        r.push(EffectObservation::seen(EffectLayer::Request, "25 requests accepted"));
+        r.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(EffectLayer::External, "no mailbox watched"));
+        let s = r.summary();
+        assert!(s.contains("request_effect") && s.contains("observed:"));
+        assert!(s.contains("external_effect") && s.contains("NOT observed:"));
+        // A layer nobody looked at must not read as a clean result.
+        assert!(s.contains("application_effect") && s.contains("not examined"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn the_deepest_observed_layer_is_the_ceiling_for_a_claim() {
+        let mut r = EffectReport::default();
+        r.push(EffectObservation::seen(EffectLayer::Request, "POST accepted"));
+        r.push(EffectObservation::seen(EffectLayer::Application, "read-back shows the new value"));
+        r.push(EffectObservation::not_seen(EffectLayer::External, "no delivery channel"));
+        assert_eq!(r.deepest_observed(), Some(EffectLayer::Application));
+        let empty = EffectReport::default();
+        assert_eq!(empty.deepest_observed(), None);
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn a_refused_request_reports_every_layer_as_unobserved() {
+        let mut p = ScopePolicy::for_target("https://app.example.com/");
+        p.soft.max_requests_per_minute = 0;
+        let engine = ReplayEngine::new(p);
+        let (report, exchange) = engine.observe_effects(&ReqSpec::get("https://other.test/x"), None, None).await;
+        assert!(exchange.is_none());
+        for l in [EffectLayer::Request, EffectLayer::Application, EffectLayer::External] {
+            assert!(!report.observed(l), "{l:?} must not be reported as observed when nothing was sent");
+        }
+    }
+}