diff --git a/packages/rest/src/meta-draft-read-door-census.test.ts b/packages/rest/src/meta-draft-read-door-census.test.ts
index a4ecbf1a23d..ee4f8054bae 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/meta-draft-read-door-census.test.ts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/meta-draft-read-door-census.test.ts
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
  * their own, and a door that reads a draft is no less a door there. A site's
  * key names its route or function, never its file, so the ledger is the same
  * ledger. The node helpers below read each node's OWN source file for that
- * reason. The census's last case pins the list's length and its sum over it.
+ * reason. The census's first case holds its sum: the sites found are the ledgered ones.
  */
 
 import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ describe('[#20338] census: every draft switch in rest-server.ts is ledgered', ()
             .toBe(`return isObjectSchemaMaskExempt(${param.name.getText(sf)});`);
     });
 
-    it('[#23050 slice 3] walks every file on the registrar list — its length and this sum are pinned', () => {
+    it('[#23050 slice 3] walks every file on the registrar list', () => {
         // A module added to the list makes this re-read its number rather than
         // widening unnoticed. 8 switches, all in `rest-server.ts` (the `/meta`
         // and analytics doors); the data-action, batch and approval bodies read
@@ -285,8 +285,10 @@ describe('[#20338] census: every draft switch in rest-server.ts is ledgered', ()
         // `meta-item-history-routes.ts`, carrying no draft switch: neither door reads
         // one, so no ledger row changed:
         // 8 = 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 0 + 0, length 17 → 18.
-        expect(REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES).toHaveLength(18);
+        // [#26433] Neither the list's length nor the sum is pinned here any more: the
+        // list is the authority on the files, and the first case's ledger equality
+        // holds the sum.
+        expect(REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
         expect(SOURCE_FILES.map((file) => file.fileName)).toEqual([...REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES]);
-        expect(SITES).toHaveLength(8);
     });
 });
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/rest-server-canonical-query-ast.test.ts b/packages/rest/src/rest-server-canonical-query-ast.test.ts
index d6cf5fa69bc..e77c74d7e27 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/rest-server-canonical-query-ast.test.ts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/rest-server-canonical-query-ast.test.ts
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ interface CensusEntry {
 /**
  * [#23050 slice 3] Each registrar file's floor, its own measured `querySlots`
  * count: a file the split adds to the list needs a floor here before this
- * census reads it. The §1 controls pin the list's length and the census's sum
+ * census reads it. The §1 controls pin the census's sum
  * over it (4 = 1 + 3 + 0 + 0; the batch and approval bodies build no `query:`
  * literal).
  *
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ describe('[#16638] §1 CONTROLS on the census instrument itself', () => {
         expect(wireKeysAnywhere('const a = { where: filter, limit: 2 };')).toEqual([]);
     });
 
-    it('[#23050 slice 3] censuses every file on the registrar list — its length and the slot sum are pinned', () => {
+    it('[#23050 slice 3] censuses every file on the registrar list — the slot sum is pinned', () => {
         // A module added to the list makes this re-read its number rather than
         // widening unnoticed. [#23050 slice 4] Length 4 → 5, the sum unchanged.
         // [#23050 slice 5] Length 5 → 6, the sum unchanged.
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ describe('[#16638] §1 CONTROLS on the census instrument itself', () => {
         // carries no slot).
         // [#23050 slice 13e] Length 17 → 18, the sum unchanged (neither the object
         // state-machine read nor the published read carries a slot).
-        expect(REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES).toHaveLength(18);
+        // [#26433] The list's length is no longer pinned: the list is the authority.
         expect(Object.keys(REGISTRAR_QUERY_SLOT_FLOORS).sort()).toEqual([...REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES].sort());
         expect(CENSUS.filter(({ file }) => REGISTRAR_SOURCES.has(file)).map(({ file }) => file))
             .toEqual([...REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES]);
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/rest-server-docblock-position.test.ts b/packages/rest/src/rest-server-docblock-position.test.ts
index 83c3499b539..4fb14946df2 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/rest-server-docblock-position.test.ts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/rest-server-docblock-position.test.ts
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ describe('rest-server.ts docblock position', () => {
  * floor is that module's own measured count — the batch and approval modules
  * carry three apiece (the module header, the host interface's block and the
  * function's) — and a module added to the list needs one here before it reads.
- * The case below the loop pins the list's length and the sum of the floors.
+ * The case below the loop pins the sum of the floors.
  *
  * [#23050 slice 4] `sharing-routes.ts` carries eight: the module header, two
  * host interfaces' blocks and two functions' (it holds two registrars' bodies),
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ for (const { file, minBlocks } of MOVED_FILES) {
 }
 
 describe('[#23050 slice 3] the registrar list this pin reads', () => {
-    it('reads every module on it, each against its own floor — the length and the floors\' sum are pinned', () => {
+    it('reads every module on it, each against its own floor — the floors\' sum is pinned', () => {
         // A module added to the list makes this re-read its numbers rather than
         // widening unnoticed: 4 + 3 + 3 = 10 blocks over the three modules.
         // [#23050 slice 4] 4 + 3 + 3 + 8 = 18 over four, length 4 → 5.
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ describe('[#23050 slice 3] the registrar list this pin reads', () => {
         // [#23050 slice 13e] 4 + 3 + 3 + 8 + 3 + 8 + 5 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 5 + 5 + 3 + 5 + 3 = 70
         // over seventeen, length 17 → 18 (`meta-item-history-routes.ts` 3 → 5: the
         // published read's host interface and function).
-        expect(REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES).toHaveLength(18);
+        // [#26433] The list's length is no longer pinned: the list is the authority.
         expect(Object.keys(MOVED_FILE_FLOORS).sort())
             .toEqual(REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES.filter((file) => file !== FILE).sort());
         expect(MOVED_FILES.reduce((n, { minBlocks }) => n + minBlocks, 0)).toBe(70);
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/rest-server-query-number-census.test.ts b/packages/rest/src/rest-server-query-number-census.test.ts
index 2e949caad89..7d016b9f57c 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/rest-server-query-number-census.test.ts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/rest-server-query-number-census.test.ts
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@ const SOURCE = readFileSync(resolve(HERE, SOURCE_FILE), 'utf8');
 // function, never its file, so the ledger below did not change a row.
 // [#23050 slice 3] …and now every file on THE list of the files `RestServer`'s
 // registrars live in, imported rather than spelt here, so a registrar body the
-// split moves next stays inside this census. §2's last case pins the list's
-// length and the census's sum over it.
+// split moves next stays inside this census. §2's last case pins the census's
+// sum over it.
 const SOURCES: ReadonlyArray<readonly [string, string]> = REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES.map((file) =>
     [file, file === SOURCE_FILE ? SOURCE : readFileSync(resolve(HERE, file), 'utf8')] as const);
 
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ describe('#20139 census — every numeric coercion in rest-server.ts is classifi
         }
     });
 
-    it('[#23050 slice 3] reads every file on the registrar list — its length and this sum are pinned', () => {
+    it('[#23050 slice 3] reads every file on the registrar list — this sum is pinned', () => {
         // A module added to the list makes this re-read its number rather than
         // widening unnoticed. 9 sites = 8 in `rest-server.ts` + 1 in
         // `data-action-routes.ts` (the export door's `page`); the batch and
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ describe('#20139 census — every numeric coercion in rest-server.ts is classifi
         // judged as it came and its query value goes through the reader, so its
         // exemption row left the ledger with it:
         // 8 = 7 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0, length 18.
-        expect(REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES).toHaveLength(18);
+        // [#26433] The list's length is no longer pinned: the list is the authority.
         expect(SOURCES.map(([file]) => file)).toEqual([...REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES]);
         expect(sites).toHaveLength(8);
     });
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/ui-view-route-identity.measurement.test.ts b/packages/rest/src/ui-view-route-identity.measurement.test.ts
index bb2c15fda43..bf2ca5d9f43 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/ui-view-route-identity.measurement.test.ts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/ui-view-route-identity.measurement.test.ts
@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ const SOURCE = readFileSync(resolve(HERE, 'rest-server.ts'), 'utf8');
 // `registerBatchEndpoints`' body moved to. [#23050 slice 3] …and every module
 // on THE list of the files RestServer's registrars live in, read off that list
 // (`rest-server-registrar-files.ts`) rather than named here, so the slice that
-// moves the next body widens these checks by adding its module there. The
-// reverse checks pin the list's length.
+// moves the next body widens these checks by adding its module there.
+// [#26433] The list's length is not pinned: the list is the authority.
 const REGISTRAR_SOURCES = REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES
     .map((file) => (file === 'rest-server.ts' ? SOURCE : readFileSync(resolve(HERE, file), 'utf8'))).join('\n');
 // [#23050 slice 10] `registerUiEndpoints`' BODY moved to `ui-routes.ts`; the
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ describe('[#13214] §1 the REST seam — absent context vs entitled context', ()
         // (which joined `meta-item-history-routes.ts`) calls `resolveExecCtx` or
         // `enforceAuth`, so neither host literal the inner method builds for them
         // forwards either, and no call site moved.
-        expect(REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES).toHaveLength(18);
+        // [#26433] The list's length is no longer pinned: the list is the authority.
         expect(REGISTRAR_SOURCES.split('this.enforceAuth(').length - 1).toBeGreaterThan(40);
         expect(REGISTRAR_SOURCES.split('this.resolveExecCtx(').length - 1).toBeGreaterThan(40);
     });
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/ui-view-route-tenancy.measurement.test.ts b/packages/rest/src/ui-view-route-tenancy.measurement.test.ts
index 7c8be5bb545..336e4925268 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/ui-view-route-tenancy.measurement.test.ts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/ui-view-route-tenancy.measurement.test.ts
@@ -105,8 +105,8 @@ const SOURCE = readFileSync(resolve(HERE, 'rest-server.ts'), 'utf8');
 // `registerBatchEndpoints`' body moved to. [#23050 slice 3] …and every module
 // on THE list of the files RestServer's registrars live in, read off that list
 // (`rest-server-registrar-files.ts`) rather than named here, so the slice that
-// moves the next body widens these checks by adding its module there. The
-// reverse checks pin the list's length.
+// moves the next body widens these checks by adding its module there.
+// [#26433] The list's length is not pinned: the list is the authority.
 const REGISTRAR_SOURCES = REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES
     .map((file) => (file === 'rest-server.ts' ? SOURCE : readFileSync(resolve(HERE, file), 'utf8'))).join('\n');
 // [#23050 slice 10] `registerUiEndpoints`' BODY moved to `ui-routes.ts`; the
@@ -1177,7 +1177,7 @@ describe('[#13214] §4 preconditions', () => {
         // `enforceAuth`, so neither host literal the inner method builds for them
         // forwards either, and no call site moved. Neither calls the ownership
         // guard, so it is still 1 call site and 1 forwarder.
-        expect(REST_SERVER_REGISTRAR_FILES).toHaveLength(18);
+        // [#26433] The list's length is no longer pinned: the list is the authority.
         expect(REGISTRAR_SOURCES.split('this.enforceAuth(').length - 1).toBeGreaterThan(40);
         expect(REGISTRAR_SOURCES.split('this.resolveExecCtx(').length - 1).toBeGreaterThan(40);
         // ...and the ownership guard is NOT sprayed across the file — it is a