diff --git a/browse/src/snapshot.ts b/browse/src/snapshot.ts
index ce3a1a466..3b4c610c7 100644
--- a/browse/src/snapshot.ts
+++ b/browse/src/snapshot.ts
@@ -353,6 +353,14 @@ export async function handleSnapshot(
 
   const snapshotText = output.join('\n');
 
+  // `-o` only means something to the two modes that PRODUCE an image. Passed
+  // alone it used to be silently ignored: exit 0, no file, no explanation —
+  // which reads as "the screenshot feature is broken" rather than "you forgot a
+  // flag", and cost a real debugging session before anyone noticed.
+  if (opts.outputPath && !opts.annotate && !opts.heatmap) {
+    output.push(`[warning] -o/--output was ignored: it names the file for an annotated screenshot, so it needs -a/--annotate (or -C/--cursor-interactive). For a plain screenshot use: browse screenshot ${opts.outputPath}`);
+  }
+
   // ─── Annotated screenshot (-a) ────────────────────────────
   if (opts.annotate) {
     const screenshotPath = opts.outputPath || `${TEMP_DIR}/browse-annotated.png`;
@@ -387,15 +395,48 @@ export async function handleSnapshot(
     try {
       // Inject overlay divs at each ref's bounding box
       const boxes: Array<{ ref: string; box: { x: number; y: number; width: number; height: number } }> = [];
+      const ambiguousRefs: string[] = [];
+      const skippedRefs: string[] = [];
       for (const [ref, entry] of refMap) {
         try {
-          const box = await entry.locator.boundingBox({ timeout: 1000 });
+          // A ref's locator can resolve to MORE than one element, and Playwright
+          // strict mode throws on that. It happens whenever a node has no
+          // accessible name: the locator degrades to `getByRole(role)` with no
+          // name filter, and the `.nth()` disambiguation above cannot help
+          // because its count comes from the FILTERED aria snapshot while
+          // getByRole matches the unfiltered DOM. Measured on a real page: the
+          // tree surfaced 2 unnamed paragraphs, the DOM had 9. Landmarks
+          // (banner/main/contentinfo) and paragraphs are correctly unnamed per
+          // ARIA, so this is the common case, not an edge.
+          //
+          // The exact nth-resolved locator stays the primary path; `.first()`
+          // is the AMBIGUITY FALLBACK only, and every fallback use is counted
+          // so first-match annotation is never silent. Before this, ONE such
+          // ref aborted the entire annotated screenshot (see the catch below) —
+          // which silently cost /qa, /canary and /land-and-deploy the
+          // screenshots their reports reference.
+          let locator = entry.locator;
+          const matchCount = await locator.count();
+          if (matchCount > 1) {
+            ambiguousRefs.push(`@${ref}`);
+            locator = locator.first();
+          }
+          const box = await locator.boundingBox({ timeout: 1000 });
           if (box) {
             boxes.push({ ref: `@${ref}`, box });
+          } else {
+            skippedRefs.push(`@${ref}`);
           }
         } catch (err: any) {
-          // Element may be offscreen, hidden, or page navigated — skip
-          if (!err?.message?.includes('Timeout') && !err?.message?.includes('timeout') && !err?.message?.includes('closed') && !err?.message?.includes('Target') && !err?.message?.includes('Execution context')) throw err;
+          // Element may be offscreen, hidden, or page navigated — skip.
+          //
+          // The allowlist is deliberately not exhaustive-by-message any more: a
+          // box we cannot measure is a box we do not draw, never a reason to
+          // lose every other annotation on the page. The heatmap path below has
+          // always used a bare `catch {}` for exactly this reason; annotate was
+          // the only path that could be killed by a single unmeasurable ref.
+          skippedRefs.push(`@${ref}`);
+          if (process.env.BROWSE_DEBUG) console.error(`[annotate] skipped @${ref}: ${err?.message?.split('\n')[0]}`);
         }
       }
 
@@ -428,6 +469,15 @@ export async function handleSnapshot(
 
       output.push('');
       output.push(`[annotated screenshot: ${screenshotPath}]`);
+      // Ambiguity and skips are visible, not buried behind BROWSE_DEBUG: a
+      // first-match box or a missing box changes what the screenshot claims.
+      if (ambiguousRefs.length || skippedRefs.length) {
+        const cap = (arr: string[]) => arr.slice(0, 8).join(', ') + (arr.length > 8 ? `, +${arr.length - 8} more` : '');
+        const parts: string[] = [];
+        if (ambiguousRefs.length) parts.push(`${ambiguousRefs.length} ambiguous (first-match): ${cap(ambiguousRefs)}`);
+        if (skippedRefs.length) parts.push(`${skippedRefs.length} skipped: ${cap(skippedRefs)}`);
+        output.push(`[annotated: ${parts.join(' | ')}]`);
+      }
     } catch (err: any) {
       // Remove overlays even on screenshot failure — but only swallow page/browser errors
       if (!err?.message?.includes('closed') && !err?.message?.includes('Target') && !err?.message?.includes('Execution context') && !err?.message?.includes('screenshot')) throw err;
diff --git a/browse/test/fixtures/snapshot-ambiguous.html b/browse/test/fixtures/snapshot-ambiguous.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e50d6d8dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/browse/test/fixtures/snapshot-ambiguous.html
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<head><title>Ambiguous refs fixture</title></head>
+<body>
+  <!-- "Save" is a substring of "Save As": getByRole('button', { name: 'Save' })
+       matches BOTH buttons (Playwright name matching is substring by default),
+       so the "Save" ref trips strict mode without .first(). This is the
+       deterministic form of the field failure in PR #2601. -->
+  <header>
+    <h1>Ambiguity test page</h1>
+  </header>
+  <main>
+    <p>Paragraph one of plain content.</p>
+    <p>Paragraph two of plain content.</p>
+    <button>Save</button>
+    <button>Save As</button>
+    <button>Cancel</button>
+    <a href="#end">Jump to end</a>
+  </main>
+  <footer>
+    <p id="end">Footer content.</p>
+  </footer>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/browse/test/snapshot.test.ts b/browse/test/snapshot.test.ts
index 107adf49a..96a8b170e 100644
--- a/browse/test/snapshot.test.ts
+++ b/browse/test/snapshot.test.ts
@@ -321,6 +321,33 @@ describe('Annotated screenshots', () => {
     fs.unlinkSync(screenshotPath);
   });
 
+  // PR #2601 (@namtrok): one ambiguous ref must not kill the whole annotated
+  // screenshot. "Save" is a substring of "Save As", so the Save ref's locator
+  // matches two buttons — pre-fix, Playwright strict mode aborted every
+  // remaining annotation and no file was written.
+  test('snapshot -a survives ambiguous refs and reports them visibly (#2601)', async () => {
+    const screenshotPath = '/tmp/browse-test-annotated-ambiguous.png';
+    await handleWriteCommand('goto', [baseUrl + '/snapshot-ambiguous.html'], bm);
+    const result = await handleMetaCommand('snapshot', ['-a', '-o', screenshotPath], bm, shutdown);
+    // The screenshot landed despite the ambiguity...
+    expect(result).toContain('[annotated screenshot:');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(screenshotPath)).toBe(true);
+    expect(fs.statSync(screenshotPath).size).toBeGreaterThan(1000);
+    // ...refs after the ambiguous one are still in the snapshot...
+    expect(result).toContain('Save As');
+    expect(result).toContain('Cancel');
+    // ...and the first-match fallback is visible, never silent.
+    expect(result).toContain('ambiguous (first-match)');
+    fs.unlinkSync(screenshotPath);
+  });
+
+  test('snapshot -o without -a/-H warns instead of silently ignoring (#2601)', async () => {
+    await handleWriteCommand('goto', [baseUrl + '/snapshot.html'], bm);
+    const result = await handleMetaCommand('snapshot', ['-o', '/tmp/browse-test-ignored.png'], bm, shutdown);
+    expect(result).toContain('[warning] -o/--output was ignored');
+    expect(fs.existsSync('/tmp/browse-test-ignored.png')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   test('snapshot -a uses default path', async () => {
     const defaultPath = '/tmp/browse-annotated.png';
     await handleWriteCommand('goto', [baseUrl + '/snapshot.html'], bm);