diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index e29d3f7012..cee5cc86d2 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -26,9 +26,10 @@ updates:
       - "npm"
     open-pull-requests-limit: 5
 
-  # npm - website
+  # npm - website (apps/website; the old /website path died in the apps/
+  # reorganization and Dependabot failed every run on the missing file)
   - package-ecosystem: "npm"
-    directory: "/website"
+    directory: "/apps/website"
     schedule:
       interval: "weekly"
     commit-message:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/website-checks.yml b/.github/workflows/website-checks.yml
index 0c08b7b1fc..6ddbf232b9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/website-checks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/website-checks.yml
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Queen viewport matrix
         env:
           CHROME_PATH: ${{ steps.chrome.outputs.chrome-path }}
-        run: npm run check:queen-viewport -- --no-build
+        run: npm run test:queen-viewport-readiness && npm run check:queen-viewport -- --no-build
 
       # Real touch events through CDP on the built board: a tap selects a unit,
       # a drag pans, two fingers zoom. It exits 2 (NOT MEASURED) when the page
diff --git a/apps/website/package.json b/apps/website/package.json
index 100b3aa939..c1ce8f81ae 100644
--- a/apps/website/package.json
+++ b/apps/website/package.json
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@
     "check:boot-shell": "node --experimental-strip-types qa/boot-shell-contract.mjs",
     "og-image": "node scripts/og-image.mjs",
     "test:viewport-spec": "node --test scripts/viewport-from-spec.test.mjs",
+    "test:queen-viewport-readiness": "node --test qa/queen-viewport-readiness.test.mjs",
     "test:card-chat": "node --experimental-strip-types --test scripts/queen-card-chat.test.mjs",
     "check:explorer-viewport": "node qa/explorer-viewport-contract.mjs",
     "check:passport": "node --experimental-strip-types qa/passport-figures.mjs"
diff --git a/apps/website/qa/queen-viewport-contract.mjs b/apps/website/qa/queen-viewport-contract.mjs
index bbe7c4c3a6..e90d23c274 100644
--- a/apps/website/qa/queen-viewport-contract.mjs
+++ b/apps/website/qa/queen-viewport-contract.mjs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import { createServer } from 'node:http';
 import { readFileSync, existsSync, mkdtempSync, mkdirSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { join, extname, normalize } from 'node:path';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { readinessDataExpr, sectorsAssertedAt } from './queen-viewport-readiness.mjs';
 
 const ROOT = new URL('..', import.meta.url).pathname;
 const DIST = join(ROOT, 'dist');
@@ -94,7 +95,7 @@ if (TRI_BUTTONS.length < 1) {
   process.exit(1);
 }
 const RAIL_COMMANDS = RAIL_VIEW_COUNT - (RAIL_VIEWS.includes('tri') ? 1 : 0) + TRI_BUTTONS.length;
-const DATA_WAIT_MS = 60000; // under the gate chain's load the sectors rows render late (the "sectors=0" readiness flake, cycles 015 and 035): a minute, like the windows gate
+const DATA_WAIT_MS = 60000; // under the gate chain's load the sectors rows render late (the "sectors=0" readiness flake, cycles 015 and 035): a minute, like the windows gate -- and since 2026-10-24 readiness holds out for the rows themselves at the sizes that assert them, not the pill alone
 const SETTLE_MS = 700;
 
 const CHROMES = [
@@ -613,9 +614,12 @@ for (const [w, h] of (DEAD ? SIZES.filter(([w]) => w === 1440 || w === 390) : SI
     const t = setTimeout(r, 20000);
     listeners.push(m => { if (m.sessionId === sessionId && m.method === 'Page.loadEventFired') { clearTimeout(t); r(); } });
   });
-  // Wait for the round slot and, when the backend answers, the live pill; the
-  // countdown reads "—" until both endpoints have answered (and stays "—"
-  // with the scheduler off), so the pill is the data signal, not the clock.
+  // Wait for the round slot and the data signal; the countdown reads "—" until
+  // both endpoints have answered (and stays "—" with the scheduler off), so the
+  // pill is the usual data signal, not the clock. At the sizes whose probe
+  // asserts six sector rows, the rows are the signal: the pill answered before
+  // the rows rendered on the loaded gate chain and wars counted zero
+  // (qa/queen-viewport-readiness.mjs holds both ends to one predicate).
   const start = Date.now();
   let ready = false;
   while (Date.now() - start < DATA_WAIT_MS) {
@@ -625,7 +629,7 @@ for (const [w, h] of (DEAD ? SIZES.filter(([w]) => w === 1440 || w === 390) : SI
       const live = !!document.querySelector('#stat-status.is-live');
       const dead = !!document.querySelector('#stat-status.is-cold');
       const rows = document.querySelectorAll('.queen27-sectors-row').length;
-      const data = ${DEAD} ? dead : (live || rows === 6);
+      const data = ${readinessDataExpr(w, phone, DEAD)};
       const rail = document.querySelector('.queen27-hud-command');
       const declared = rail ? Number(rail.getAttribute('data-views')) : 0;
       // the rail declares its own count (data-views from commandItems); the gate follows it rather than a hardcoded eight
@@ -680,7 +684,7 @@ for (const [w, h] of (DEAD ? SIZES.filter(([w]) => w === 1440 || w === 390) : SI
     // qa/agents-spec-contract.mjs holds HUD_VIEWS itself to the modules.
     if (counts.commands !== RAIL_COMMANDS) zero.push(`commands=${counts.commands} (the rail draws ${RAIL_COMMANDS}: ${RAIL_VIEW_COUNT} doors, tri as ${TRI_BUTTONS.length} screens)`);
     if (counts.resources < 7) zero.push(`resources=${counts.resources}`);
-    if (!DEAD && !phone && w > 1100 && counts.sectors !== 6) zero.push(`sectors=${counts.sectors}`);
+    if (sectorsAssertedAt(w, phone, DEAD) && counts.sectors !== 6) zero.push(`sectors=${counts.sectors}`);
     if (DEAD && counts.sectors !== 0) fail.push(`sectors rendered without a board: ${counts.sectors}`);
     if (DEAD && result.live) fail.push('status pill reads LIVE with a dead API');
     if (DEAD) for (const z of result.zeros) fail.push('BARE ZERO ' + z);
diff --git a/apps/website/qa/queen-viewport-readiness.mjs b/apps/website/qa/queen-viewport-readiness.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bcd2f5f815
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/website/qa/queen-viewport-readiness.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// The one sentence both ends of qa/queen-viewport-contract.mjs must agree on:
+// at which sizes the probe asserts six sector rows.
+//
+// The probe asserts the rows only above 1100 px of width on a non-phone
+// viewport -- the context column only claims that room there -- and never in
+// the dead-API build, where zero rows is the expected shape. The readiness
+// wait before the first click used to accept the live pill alone at every
+// size, so on a loaded gate chain the pill answered before the rows rendered
+// and the wars probe counted zero (main, 2026-10-24: 1440x900 wars FAIL
+// COUNT sectors=0, with kanban and widgets passing seconds later on the same
+// page). Both ends now read this predicate, so the wait cannot drift from
+// the assertion it precedes.
+export const sectorsAssertedAt = (w, phone, dead) => !dead && !phone && w > 1100;
+
+// What "the data has answered" means in the readiness probe, interpolated
+// into the page: in dead-api mode the cold pill; at the sizes that assert the
+// rows, the rows themselves; everywhere else the live pill or the rows, as
+// before.
+export const readinessDataExpr = (w, phone, dead) =>
+  dead ? 'dead' : sectorsAssertedAt(w, phone, dead) ? 'rows === 6' : '(live || rows === 6)';
diff --git a/apps/website/qa/queen-viewport-readiness.test.mjs b/apps/website/qa/queen-viewport-readiness.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..687bc1f77c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/website/qa/queen-viewport-readiness.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// The predicate qa/queen-viewport-contract.mjs reads at both ends: which
+// sizes assert six sector rows, and what its readiness wait must hold out
+// for there (qa/queen-viewport-readiness.mjs).
+import { test } from 'node:test'
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict'
+import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path'
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
+import { readinessDataExpr, sectorsAssertedAt } from './queen-viewport-readiness.mjs'
+
+const QA = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
+
+test('desktop sizes assert the six rows; the phone and the dead build do not', () => {
+  for (const [w, h] of [[1920, 1080], [1440, 900], [1272, 806], [1280, 700], [1280, 600]])
+    assert.equal(sectorsAssertedAt(w, false, false), true, `${w}x${h} must assert the rows`)
+  for (const [w, h] of [[390, 844], [390, 640], [390, 560]])
+    assert.equal(sectorsAssertedAt(w, true, false), false, `${w}x${h} must not assert the rows`)
+  // the dead-API build expects zero rows, never six
+  assert.equal(sectorsAssertedAt(1440, false, true), false)
+})
+
+test('readiness holds out for the rows exactly where the probe asserts them', () => {
+  assert.equal(readinessDataExpr(1440, false, false), 'rows === 6')
+  assert.equal(readinessDataExpr(1920, false, false), 'rows === 6')
+  // below the assertion threshold the live pill alone still counts
+  assert.equal(readinessDataExpr(390, true, false), '(live || rows === 6)')
+  // and the dead build reads its own pill
+  assert.equal(readinessDataExpr(1440, false, true), 'dead')
+})
+
+test('the contract interpolates the predicate at both ends', () => {
+  const text = readFileSync(join(QA, 'queen-viewport-contract.mjs'), 'utf8')
+  assert.match(text, /\$\{readinessDataExpr\(w, phone, DEAD\)\}/,
+    'the readiness wait must read the shared predicate')
+  assert.match(text, /sectorsAssertedAt\(w, phone, DEAD\) && counts\.sectors !== 6/,
+    'the sectors assertion must read the shared predicate')
+  // the old inline forms must be gone, or the two ends can drift apart again
+  // (the drift is the bug: main, 2026-10-24, 1440x900 wars FAIL COUNT sectors=0
+  // -- readiness accepted the pill while the probe was waiting for the rows)
+  assert.ok(!text.includes('live || rows === 6'),
+    'the readiness escape hatch must come from the module, not stay inline')
+  assert.ok(!text.includes('!DEAD && !phone && w > 1100'),
+    'the assertion threshold must come from the module, not stay inline')
+})