Two problems, both caused by the backlog actually shrinking.
## 1. Four failing tests on main
**Pre-existing, not introduced here** — running this file on clean
`origin/main` gives `49 passed / 4 failed` with identical messages. I
checked that before touching anything, because the failures surfaced
while I was editing the same file.
The ratchet cases build their fixture like this:
```ts
Object.entries(baseline.byFile).find(([, c]) => c > 1) // needs a file with MORE THAN ONE guard
```
After the tail reclassification no such entry exists. `find` returns
undefined → `byFile[undefined] = NaN` → the baseline is corrupt → every
case fails with `expected … to contain 'TIGHTENED'`, a message that
points squarely at the CLI when the **fixture** is at fault. That
misdirection is why this sat red.
The ratchet doesn't care *which* file it tightens, only that an
allowance exceeds the measured count. So `inflate` now takes any entry,
and synthesises one against a real scanned file when the backlog is
empty.
`deflate` is the harder half: a RISE needs an allowance **below** the
real count, and once every measured count is 0 the only value below is
negative. The empty case uses `-1`. That is not a realistic baseline
value and the comment says so — it is the sole way to exercise the
`measured > allowed` comparison against a tree with nothing left to
count, which is the tree this suite now runs on.
Same class as the unbounded-slice rot in #3207: **census self-tests
coupled to the size of a shrinking backlog.** That is now twice, so it
is a pattern rather than an accident.
## 2. The report went silent at the finish line
The verdict was two inline branches and neither fired at zero —
`CONVERSION QUEUE EMPTY` required `totals.column > 0`. So the one state
the entire fleet phase was working toward printed **nothing**, which
reads as a broken scan rather than the protected end state.
Extracted to a pure `describeBacklogState({ columnGuards,
unexaminedGuards })` returning lines, so the caller stays a dumb
printer:
```
BACKLOG ZERO: no lifecycle-column guard remains.
This is the protected end state, not an empty scan — `--strict` fails on any RISE, so a new
guard cannot land silently. Use the role helpers (resolveLifecycleColumns / columnHasRole).
```
Pure **specifically** so the zero state is testable before the tree
reaches zero. While it was inline, only the *current* backlog state was
observable — and a message nobody can test before they need it is the
one that is wrong when they do.
## Evidence
| check | result |
|---|---|
| census test file | **53 passed** (was 49 passed / 4 failed) |
| behaviour on today's tree | **unchanged** — identical `CONVERSION
QUEUE EMPTY` block |
| empty-baseline probe | exits 1, `column-guard count ROSE` |
| forced zero verdict | prints `BACKLOG ZERO … not an empty scan` |
| `--strict` / `check-fnxc-future-dates` / eslint | 0 / 0 / clean |
| `pnpm test:gate` | exit 0 (744 tests) |
Four new tests pin all three states, including that the unexamined
branch must **not** claim the queue is empty while real work is
outstanding.
## Census
No guard converted — this is tooling and test repair. Backlog unchanged
at 1, which #3215 takes to 0.
cfcbba6f81