diff --git a/modules/comment/assets/js/comment.admin.js b/modules/comment/assets/js/comment.admin.js
index 04bde3cb..abb0d2cc 100644
--- a/modules/comment/assets/js/comment.admin.js
+++ b/modules/comment/assets/js/comment.admin.js
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
         var status = document.getElementById('comment-status');
 
         grid = tigerDataTable('#comment-grid', {
-            service: { module: 'comment', service: 'comment', method: 'datatable' },
+            service: { module: 'comment', service: 'comment', action: 'datatable' },
             extraData: function () { return { status: status ? status.value : 'pending' }; },
             order: [[3, 'desc']],
             columns: [
diff --git a/modules/comment/controllers/AdminController.php b/modules/comment/controllers/AdminController.php
index d8e50629..1688afdd 100644
--- a/modules/comment/controllers/AdminController.php
+++ b/modules/comment/controllers/AdminController.php
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@ public function indexAction()
             throw new Zend_Controller_Action_Exception('Comments are disabled', 404);
         }
 
-        $this->view->title    = 'Comments — Tiger Admin';
-        $this->view->statuses = Tiger_Model_Comment::STATUSES;
+        $this->view->title         = 'Comments — Tiger Admin';
+        $this->view->statuses      = Tiger_Model_Comment::STATUSES;
+        $this->view->useDataTables = true;   // the layout loads jQuery + DataTables when set
 
         // The AI spam control only APPEARS when there is a live agent to run it — an always-visible
         // toggle that silently does nothing is worse than no toggle.
diff --git a/modules/comment/services/Comment.php b/modules/comment/services/Comment.php
index c38bedab..e97b3b6a 100644
--- a/modules/comment/services/Comment.php
+++ b/modules/comment/services/Comment.php
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ public function datatable(array $params): void
         if (!$this->_isAllowed('moderate')) { $this->_error('core.api.error.not_allowed'); return; }
         if (!$this->_enabled()) { return; }
 
-        $dt     = $this->_dtParams();
+        $dt     = $this->_dtParams($params);
         $status = (string) ($params['status'] ?? Tiger_Model_Comment::STATUS_PENDING);
         $rows   = (new Tiger_Model_Comment())->byStatus($status, 500);
 
diff --git a/modules/newsletter/assets/js/newsletter.admin.js b/modules/newsletter/assets/js/newsletter.admin.js
index 7c4f2ad8..21eabd2e 100644
--- a/modules/newsletter/assets/js/newsletter.admin.js
+++ b/modules/newsletter/assets/js/newsletter.admin.js
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
         var status = document.getElementById('newsletter-status');
 
         grid = tigerDataTable('#newsletter-grid', {
-            service: { module: 'newsletter', service: 'subscribe', method: 'datatable' },
+            service: { module: 'newsletter', service: 'subscribe', action: 'datatable' },
             extraData: function () { return { status: status ? status.value : '' }; },
             order: [[4, 'desc']],
             columns: [
diff --git a/modules/newsletter/controllers/AdminController.php b/modules/newsletter/controllers/AdminController.php
index f75a5913..0562333d 100644
--- a/modules/newsletter/controllers/AdminController.php
+++ b/modules/newsletter/controllers/AdminController.php
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ public function init()
     /** The subscriber list. */
     public function indexAction()
     {
-        $this->view->title    = 'Newsletter — Tiger Admin';
-        $this->view->statuses = Newsletter_Model_Subscriber::STATUSES;
+        $this->view->title         = 'Newsletter — Tiger Admin';
+        $this->view->statuses      = Newsletter_Model_Subscriber::STATUSES;
+        $this->view->useDataTables = true;   // the layout loads jQuery + DataTables when set
     }
 }
diff --git a/modules/system/controllers/SitesController.php b/modules/system/controllers/SitesController.php
index 4459eea6..d0e61d55 100644
--- a/modules/system/controllers/SitesController.php
+++ b/modules/system/controllers/SitesController.php
@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@ public function init()
     /** `/system/sites` — the host → org mappings grid + an add-domain form. */
     public function indexAction()
     {
-        $this->view->title   = 'Sites — Tiger Admin';
-        $this->view->form    = new System_Form_Site();
-        $this->view->orgCount = (int) (new Tiger_Model_Org())->fetchAll(
+        $this->view->title         = 'Sites — Tiger Admin';
+        $this->view->useDataTables = true;   // the layout loads jQuery + DataTables when set
+        $this->view->form          = new System_Form_Site();
+        $this->view->orgCount      = (int) (new Tiger_Model_Org())->fetchAll(
             (new Tiger_Model_Org())->activeSelect()
         )->count();
     }
diff --git a/tests/ui/README.md b/tests/ui/README.md
index 1f29f313..67c1d408 100644
--- a/tests/ui/README.md
+++ b/tests/ui/README.md
@@ -25,10 +25,18 @@ test account. Without it the authenticated scenarios are skipped; everything ano
 
 ## Exit codes
 
-Both probes exit non-zero on a real failure, so they drop straight into CI or a cron.
-A check that could not run (e.g. reCAPTCHA refused a tokenless client) reports **GATED**, not
-PASS — a vacuous green is worse than no check.
+Both probes exit non-zero on a real failure, so either drops into a script when you want that.
+A check that could not run reports **GATED**, not PASS — a vacuous green is worse than no check.
+With reCAPTCHA switched off on the test install (`tiger.recaptcha.enabled = 0`) nothing is gated;
+see the probe's own footer.
 
-## Promotion
+## Scope — scenarios, by decision
 
-A confirmed finding becomes a spec in `regression/` so it cannot come back silently.
+These are **scenarios, run on demand.** There is deliberately no CI job, no promoted-spec
+directory and no Playwright suite to maintain: the cost of a regression harness is ongoing and
+the value here is finding real defects on real screens, which is what an on-demand pass does.
+
+So a confirmed finding becomes a **Jira ticket** (labelled `functional-user-test` + `ui-probe`),
+not a test file. Where a whole CLASS of defect turns out to be statically detectable, the cheap
+exhaustive home for it is a check in `paradigm-scan.php` — one scan, every view, milliseconds —
+rather than a scenario per screen.
diff --git a/themes/puma/assets/js/tiger.datatable.js b/themes/puma/assets/js/tiger.datatable.js
index 473d692c..9baed0a0 100644
--- a/themes/puma/assets/js/tiger.datatable.js
+++ b/themes/puma/assets/js/tiger.datatable.js
@@ -29,10 +29,28 @@
         var $ = window.jQuery;
         if (!$ || !$.fn || !$.fn.DataTable) { return null; }
 
+        // DataTables reports its own errors with a browser alert() by default, which breaks the house
+        // rule (no alert/confirm/prompt — AGENTS.md) and, worse, hides the failure from the console,
+        // where our cheapest detector looks. 'throw' routes it to the console instead: visible to a
+        // developer, visible to the browser probe, and it can never block the page behind a modal.
+        if ($.fn.dataTable && $.fn.dataTable.ext) { $.fn.dataTable.ext.errMode = 'throw'; }
+
         opts = opts || {};
         var svc   = opts.service || {};
         var extra = (typeof opts.extraData === 'function') ? opts.extraData : function () { return {}; };
 
+        // The /api message names module + service + ACTION. `action` is the key this helper reads; a
+        // grid that says `method` instead sends no action at all, and the gateway can only refuse it.
+        // Refusing here names the real cause at the call site rather than letting DataTables report a
+        // generic warning about a request that was never going to work.
+        if (!svc.module || !svc.service || !svc.action) {
+            window.console && console.error(
+                'tigerDataTable(' + selector + '): service needs { module, service, action } — got ' +
+                JSON.stringify(svc) + (svc.method ? ' (use `action`, not `method`)' : '')
+            );
+            return null;
+        }
+
         // Sensible defaults; caller's opts win. `service`/`extraData` are ours, not DT's.
         // stateSave persists page / length / search / order per grid (localStorage, keyed by table id +
         // path) so a grid remembers where you were across reloads + navigation. A caller can opt out with