@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/cli': patch
+'@objectstack/service-storage': patch
+'@objectstack/objectql': patch
+---
+
+Clause-②: no
+
+fix(cli): `os storage orphans`, the `os secret rewrap` dry run and the `os migrate summary-nulls` dry run say they write no row or table, and that opening a SQLite file can still switch its journal mode, instead of saying nothing was written
+
+**What was wrong.** Each of these runs boots through the SQL driver before it prints, and the driver's connect switches a SQLite file to the journal mode it asks for (WAL, unless `OS_DATABASE_SQLITE_JOURNAL_MODE=delete` is set in the command's own environment or the project's `.env`). Measured on a file still on a rollback journal, each run moved the header's journal-mode bytes (18 and 19, from 1,1 to 2,2) and its change counter, and changed no row or table, while printing "nothing was written". Nothing was lost.
+
+**What changed.** Each sentence below now claims no row or table. Where the run opened a SQLite file, the report's line is followed by the note the other read-only arms already carry: "Opening a SQLite file can still switch its journal mode (to WAL by default), which changes its header only." On PostgreSQL or MySQL the line ends without it.
+
+- `os storage orphans` (`formatStrandedOrphanInventory`, `@objectstack/service-storage`). FROM: "This pass is READ-ONLY: nothing was written, tombstoned or deleted." TO: "This pass is READ-ONLY: no row or table was written, tombstoned or deleted." and the note.
+- `os secret rewrap` (the dry run's note, `REWRAP_NOTES.dryRun`, also in `--json` `report.notes`). FROM: "Dry run: every attributed row was opened, re-sealed and verified in memory, and nothing was written. Re-run with --apply to write." TO: "… and no row or table was written. Re-run with --apply to write." The note already follows the dry run's closing line on a SQLite file, so this sentence carries none.
+- `os migrate summary-nulls` (the dry run that found NULL roll-ups, `formatSummaryBackfillReport`, `@objectstack/objectql`). FROM: "Dry run — nothing was written. Re-run with --apply to backfill." TO: "Dry run — no row or table was written. Re-run with --apply to backfill." and the note.
+
+**Unchanged.** No exit code, flag, prompt, refusal or export signature changes, and no `--json` document gains a field; the note is printed in the text output only. What the driver does on connect is unchanged: once a file is in the mode the driver asks for, these runs leave it byte-identical.
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ async function confirm(question: string): Promise<boolean> {
  *
  * Dry run by default, like every other `os migrate` subcommand (#2186): a
  * bare invocation reports how many rows still carry the sentinel and writes
- * nothing. `--apply` runs the conversion through the ADR-0119 D2 migration
+ * no row or table. `--apply` runs the conversion through the ADR-0119 D2 migration
  * journal, so each chunk is one transaction and an interrupted run is
  * recoverable via `os migrate resume`.
  *
 
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@
  * (the unscoped run the ruling keeps byte-for-byte). The seams that would boot
  * a database or walk a real engine are replaced; the command's own parse and
  * control flow run for real.
+ *
+ * And what the human face says about the database: the dry run's read-only
+ * boot can still switch a SQLite file's journal mode, which rewrites its
+ * header and no row, so the report's dry-run line claims no row or table and,
+ * on a SQLite target only, is followed by the note naming the switch. The
+ * report's formatter is the real one from `@objectstack/objectql`.
  */
 
 import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest';
@@ -21,6 +27,7 @@ import MigrateSummaryNulls from './summary-nulls.js';
 import { bootSchemaStack } from '../../utils/schema-migrate.js';
 import { probeMigrationTarget } from '../../utils/migrate-occupancy-gate.js';
 import { isExitSignal } from '../../utils/format.js';
+import { JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE } from '../../utils/sqlite-occupancy.js';
 import { backfillSummaryNulls } from '@objectstack/objectql';
 
 vi.mock('../../utils/schema-migrate.js', () => ({ bootSchemaStack: vi.fn() }));
@@ -29,10 +36,15 @@ vi.mock('../../utils/migrate-occupancy-gate.js', () => ({
   probeMigrationTarget: vi.fn(),
 }));
 vi.mock('../../utils/data-migration-plugins.js', () => ({ buildDataMigrationPlugins: vi.fn(async () => []) }));
-vi.mock('@objectstack/objectql', () => ({
-  backfillSummaryNulls: vi.fn(),
-  formatSummaryBackfillReport: vi.fn(() => []),
-}));
+// The walk is replaced; the formatter is the real one, so the human-face pins
+// below read the report's own dry-run line.
+vi.mock('@objectstack/objectql', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const real = await importOriginal<typeof import('@objectstack/objectql')>();
+  return {
+    backfillSummaryNulls: vi.fn(),
+    formatSummaryBackfillReport: real.formatSummaryBackfillReport,
+  };
+});
 
 const HERE = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const CLI_ROOT = resolve(HERE, '..', '..', '..');
@@ -154,3 +166,53 @@ describe('os migrate summary-nulls', () => {
     expect(payload.error).toContain('customer.nope');
   }, RUN_TIMEOUT);
 });
+
+// ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// The human face: what the dry run says about the database
+// ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+const SQLITE_CONFIG = { client: 'better-sqlite3', connection: { filename: '/srv/app/.objectstack/data/objectstack.db' } };
+const POSTGRES_CONFIG = { client: 'pg', connection: 'postgres://db.example.com:5432/app' };
+const DRY_RUN_LINE = 'Dry run — no row or table was written. Re-run with --apply to backfill.';
+
+/** A dry run that found one NULL roll-up, so the report closes with its dry-run line. */
+const DRY_REPORT_WITH_NULLS = {
+  ...EMPTY_REPORT,
+  scannedObjects: ['customer'],
+  scannedRecords: 1,
+  fields: [{
+    object: 'customer', field: 'open_count', fn: 'count', childObject: 'case',
+    nullRows: 1, nonEmpty: 0, filled: 0, sampleRecordIds: ['c_1'],
+  }],
+  nullRows: 1,
+};
+
+describe('os migrate summary-nulls — the dry run names no write it cannot vouch for', () => {
+  /** Boot onto a primary driver with `config`; every report line the run printed. */
+  async function runDry(config: Record<string, unknown>): Promise<string[]> {
+    vi.mocked(bootSchemaStack).mockResolvedValue({
+      // The primary datasource's driver, as `SchemaStack.driver` carries it.
+      driver: { config },
+      kernel: { getService: () => engine },
+      dbLabel: 'test database',
+      shutdown: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+    } as any);
+    vi.mocked(backfillSummaryNulls).mockResolvedValue(DRY_REPORT_WITH_NULLS as any);
+    await MigrateSummaryNulls.run([], { root: CLI_ROOT });
+    return log.mock.calls.map((c: unknown[]) => c.map(String).join(' ')).join('\n').split('\n');
+  }
+
+  it('on a SQLite file the dry-run line claims no row or table and names the journal-mode switch', async () => {
+    const lines = await runDry(SQLITE_CONFIG);
+    const dryRun = lines.find((line) => line.startsWith('Dry run —'));
+    expect(dryRun, lines.join('\n')).toBe(`${DRY_RUN_LINE} ${JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE}`);
+    expect(lines.join('\n')).not.toContain('nothing was written');
+  }, RUN_TIMEOUT);
+
+  it('on a target with no file header (PostgreSQL) the dry-run line claims no row or table and names no switch', async () => {
+    const lines = await runDry(POSTGRES_CONFIG);
+    const dryRun = lines.find((line) => line.startsWith('Dry run —'));
+    expect(dryRun, lines.join('\n')).toBe(DRY_RUN_LINE);
+    expect(lines.join('\n')).not.toContain(JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE);
+  }, RUN_TIMEOUT);
+});
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import {
 import { bootSchemaStack } from '../../utils/schema-migrate.js';
 import { OCCUPANCY_HINT, probeMigrationTarget } from '../../utils/migrate-occupancy-gate.js';
 import { describeOccupancy, JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE } from '../../utils/sqlite-occupancy.js';
+import { describeDriverSqliteFile } from '../../utils/connection-display.js';
 import { buildDataMigrationPlugins } from '../../utils/data-migration-plugins.js';
 import { refuseUndeclaredObjects } from '../../utils/migrate-object-scope.js';
 // Type-only, so the heavy engine package is still loaded lazily below: this is
@@ -254,7 +255,19 @@ export default class MigrateSummaryNulls extends Command {
 
       printInfo(`Database: ${chalk.white(stack.dbLabel)}`);
       console.log('');
-      console.log(formatSummaryBackfillReport(report).join('\n'));
+      // [#23726] A dry run that found NULL roll-ups ends the report with "Dry
+      // run — no row or table was written." (its last line). The read-only
+      // boot's connect may still have switched a SQLite file's journal mode
+      // (`SqlDriver.applySqliteJournalMode`, its rule for every connect), which
+      // rewrites the file header and no row, so on a SQLite file that line is
+      // followed by the note naming the switch. A target that is no SQLite file
+      // (PostgreSQL, MySQL) has no header to switch. The `--json` document
+      // carries no sentence and is unchanged.
+      const journalNote = !report.applied && report.nullRows > 0
+        && describeDriverSqliteFile(stack.driver?.config) !== undefined
+        ? ` ${JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE}`
+        : '';
+      console.log(`${formatSummaryBackfillReport(report).join('\n')}${journalNote}`);
       console.log('');
 
       if (report.failures.length > 0) {
 
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ export default class SecretOrphans extends Command {
         // [#21471] Composed through the one-shot helper, never with the
         // service's default provider: in a development posture with no key,
         // that default mints a key file in the key home, and this report
-        // promises to write nothing.
+        // promises to write no row or table, and writes no key file either.
         extraPlugins: [new PlatformObjectsPlugin(), await oneShotSettingsPlugin()],
         // [#21391] The report boots READ-ONLY, the boot `os migrate plan`
         // takes: `deferSchemaDdl` holds schema DDL back on every SQL
 
@@ -350,6 +350,21 @@ describe('os secret rewrap — the human face names no write it cannot vouch for
     expect(closing, lines.join('\n')).toContain(`Dry run — no row or table was written. ${JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE}`);
   }, 60_000);
 
+  it('the dry run\'s own note claims no row or table, in the human face and in --json report.notes', async () => {
+    const DRY_RUN_NOTE = 'Dry run: every attributed row was opened, re-sealed and verified in memory, and no row or '
+      + 'table was written. Re-run with --apply to write.';
+    wireBoot(freshRows(), { driverConfig: SQLITE_CONFIG });
+    const lines = await runHuman(['--no-declared-datasources']);
+    const note = lines.find((line) => line.includes('Dry run: every attributed row'));
+    expect(note, lines.join('\n')).toContain(DRY_RUN_NOTE);
+    expect(lines.join('\n')).not.toContain('nothing was written');
+
+    wireBoot(freshRows(), { driverConfig: SQLITE_CONFIG });
+    const { payload } = await run(['--no-declared-datasources']);
+    expect(payload.report.notes).toContain(DRY_RUN_NOTE);
+    expect(JSON.stringify(payload.report.notes)).not.toContain('nothing was written');
+  }, 60_000);
+
   it('on a target with no file header (PostgreSQL) the dry run claims no row or table and names no switch', async () => {
     wireBoot(freshRows(), { driverConfig: POSTGRES_CONFIG });
     const lines = await runHuman(['--no-declared-datasources']);
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ import { readDeclaredDatasources } from './orphans.js';
  *
  * - **A dry run by default.** It boots read-only (the `os migrate plan` boot),
  *   opens, re-seals and verifies every attributed row in memory, prints
- *   classes and counts, and writes nothing. `--apply` writes.
+ *   classes and counts, and writes no row or table. `--apply` writes.
  * - **Never run for you.** Nothing on any boot or upgrade path invokes it, and
  *   it must not grow such a caller.
  * - **Operator-only.** ⛔ No HTTP surface, so no refusal here answers a
 
@@ -1,23 +1,94 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
 
 /**
- * `os storage orphans` — what its help says the inventory writes.
+ * `os storage orphans` — what its help and its report say the inventory writes.
  *
  * The inventory boots read-only (deferred DDL, no seed, no file brought into
  * existence), but the boot's connect can switch a SQLite file's journal mode,
  * which rewrites the file's header and no row (measured on a rollback-journal
  * file: header bytes 18 and 19 from 1,1 to 2,2, the change counter up by one,
- * schema and rows byte-identical). So the help claims no row or table, never
- * that the command writes nothing. The help names no target, so it carries no
- * SQLite note.
+ * schema and rows byte-identical). So the help and the report claim no row or
+ * table, never that the command writes nothing. The help names no target, so
+ * it carries no SQLite note; the report's READ-ONLY line carries it on a
+ * SQLite target, and only there.
+ *
+ * The report case replaces only the boot. The inventory and its formatter
+ * (`@objectstack/service-storage`) run for real over an engine with no files.
  */
 
-import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { dirname, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import StorageOrphans from './orphans.js';
+import { bootSchemaStack } from '../../utils/schema-migrate.js';
+import { JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE } from '../../utils/sqlite-occupancy.js';
+
+vi.mock('../../utils/schema-migrate.js', () => ({ bootSchemaStack: vi.fn() }));
+vi.mock('../../utils/data-migration-plugins.js', () => ({ buildDataMigrationPlugins: vi.fn(async () => []) }));
+
+const HERE = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const CLI_ROOT = resolve(HERE, '..', '..', '..');
+/** oclif builds its whole command table on the first `run()` in a process. */
+const RUN_TIMEOUT = 60_000;
+
+const SQLITE_CONFIG = { client: 'better-sqlite3', connection: { filename: '/srv/app/.objectstack/data/objectstack.db' } };
+const POSTGRES_CONFIG = { client: 'pg', connection: 'postgres://db.example.com:5432/app' };
+const READ_ONLY_LINE = 'This pass is READ-ONLY: no row or table was written, tombstoned or deleted.';
+
+/** Wire the mocked boot to an engine that registers both objects and stores no file. */
+function wireBoot(driverConfig: Record<string, unknown>): void {
+  const engine = {
+    getObject: (name: string) => (name === 'sys_file' || name === 'sys_attachment' ? { name } : undefined),
+    find: async () => [],
+  };
+  vi.mocked(bootSchemaStack).mockResolvedValue({
+    // The primary datasource's driver, as `SchemaStack.driver` carries it.
+    driver: { config: driverConfig },
+    dbLabel: 'test database',
+    kernel: { getService: (name: string) => (name === 'objectql' ? engine : undefined) },
+    tableAbsent: () => false,
+    shutdown: async () => {},
+  } as never);
+}
+
+/** One human-mode run; every line `console.log` received. */
+async function runHuman(): Promise<string[]> {
+  const log = vi.spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation(() => {});
+  const savedExitCode = process.exitCode;
+  try {
+    await StorageOrphans.run([], { root: CLI_ROOT });
+    return log.mock.calls.map((c) => c.map(String).join(' ')).join('\n').split('\n');
+  } finally {
+    process.exitCode = savedExitCode;
+    log.mockRestore();
+  }
+}
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  vi.mocked(bootSchemaStack).mockReset();
+});
 
 describe('os storage orphans --help', () => {
   it('says the inventory writes no row or table, tombstones nothing and deletes nothing', () => {
     expect(StorageOrphans.description).toContain('Writes no row or table, tombstones nothing, deletes nothing.');
     expect(StorageOrphans.description).not.toContain('Writes nothing');
   });
 });
+
+describe('os storage orphans — the report names no write it cannot vouch for', () => {
+  it('on a SQLite file the READ-ONLY line claims no row or table and names the journal-mode switch', async () => {
+    wireBoot(SQLITE_CONFIG);
+    const lines = await runHuman();
+    const readOnly = lines.find((line) => line.includes('READ-ONLY'));
+    expect(readOnly, lines.join('\n')).toBe(`${READ_ONLY_LINE} ${JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE}`);
+    expect(lines.join('\n')).not.toContain('nothing was written');
+  }, RUN_TIMEOUT);
+
+  it('on a target with no file header (PostgreSQL) the READ-ONLY line claims no row or table and names no switch', async () => {
+    wireBoot(POSTGRES_CONFIG);
+    const lines = await runHuman();
+    const readOnly = lines.find((line) => line.includes('READ-ONLY'));
+    expect(readOnly, lines.join('\n')).toBe(READ_ONLY_LINE);
+    expect(lines.join('\n')).not.toContain(JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE);
+  }, RUN_TIMEOUT);
+});
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ import {
 import { bootSchemaStack } from '../../utils/schema-migrate.js';
 import { buildDataMigrationPlugins } from '../../utils/data-migration-plugins.js';
 import { absentTableReads } from '../../utils/absent-table-reads.js';
+import { describeDriverSqliteFile } from '../../utils/connection-display.js';
+import { JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE } from '../../utils/sqlite-occupancy.js';
 import type { IDataEngine } from '@objectstack/spec/contracts';
 import type { StrandedOrphanInventoryEngine } from '@objectstack/service-storage';
 
@@ -181,7 +183,17 @@ export default class StorageOrphans extends Command {
       printInfo(`Database: ${chalk.white(stack.dbLabel)}`);
       reads.notice(false);
       console.log('');
-      console.log(formatStrandedOrphanInventory(report));
+      // [#23726] The report's last line says the pass is READ-ONLY and wrote
+      // no row or table. The boot's connect may still have switched a SQLite
+      // file's journal mode (`SqlDriver.applySqliteJournalMode`, its rule for
+      // every connect), which rewrites the file header and no row, so on a
+      // SQLite file that line is followed by the note naming the switch. A
+      // target that is no SQLite file (PostgreSQL, MySQL) has no header to
+      // switch. The `--json` document carries no sentence and is unchanged.
+      const journalNote = describeDriverSqliteFile(stack.driver?.config) !== undefined
+        ? ` ${JOURNAL_MODE_SWITCH_NOTE}`
+        : '';
+      console.log(`${formatStrandedOrphanInventory(report)}${journalNote}`);
       console.log('');
       if (report.truncated) {
         printWarning(
 
@@ -500,9 +500,12 @@ export const REWRAP_NOTES = {
   resumable:
     'Re-running is safe. A row already sealed under the current derivation is skipped as done, so a '
     + 'run that stopped part-way finishes the rest, and a finished run writes nothing.',
+  // [#23726] No row or table, never "nothing": the dry run's connect can switch
+  // a SQLite file's journal mode, which rewrites its header. The note naming
+  // that switch follows the human face's closing line, on a SQLite file only.
   dryRun:
-    'Dry run: every attributed row was opened, re-sealed and verified in memory, and nothing was '
-    + 'written. Re-run with --apply to write.',
+    'Dry run: every attributed row was opened, re-sealed and verified in memory, and no row or table '
+    + 'was written. Re-run with --apply to write.',
   unfinished:
     'Some rows were not re-wrapped (see the refused and not-written counts). Each was left exactly as '
     + 'it was. A row that changed during the run is picked up by a re-run.',
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ async function confirm(question: string): Promise<boolean> {`
`61`	`61`	`*`
`62`	`62`	* Dry run by default, like every other `os migrate` subcommand (#2186): a
`63`	`63`	`* bare invocation reports how many rows still carry the sentinel and writes`
`64`		- * nothing. `--apply` runs the conversion through the ADR-0119 D2 migration
	`64`	+ * no row or table. `--apply` runs the conversion through the ADR-0119 D2 migration
`65`	`65`	`* journal, so each chunk is one transaction and an interrupted run is`
`66`	`66`	* recoverable via `os migrate resume`.
`67`	`67`	`*`
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ import { readDeclaredDatasources } from './orphans.js';`
`43`	`43`	`*`
`44`	`44`	* - A dry run by default. It boots read-only (the `os migrate plan` boot),
`45`	`45`	`* opens, re-seals and verifies every attributed row in memory, prints`
`46`		- * classes and counts, and writes nothing. `--apply` writes.
	`46`	+ * classes and counts, and writes no row or table. `--apply` writes.
`47`	`47`	`* - Never run for you. Nothing on any boot or upgrade path invokes it, and`
`48`	`48`	`* it must not grow such a caller.`
`49`	`49`	`* - Operator-only. ⛔ No HTTP surface, so no refusal here answers a`