diff --git a/.claude/skills/recipe-report/SKILL.md b/.claude/skills/recipe-report/SKILL.md
index 2075c8d..6be03f0 100644
--- a/.claude/skills/recipe-report/SKILL.md
+++ b/.claude/skills/recipe-report/SKILL.md
@@ -47,9 +47,13 @@ keeps every weekly edition looking the same regardless of which model writes the
        (unknown), never `none` — a blank that reads as "clean" is exactly how two CVSS-9.8 gitea
        RCEs were reported as "none" on 2026-08-07.
      - **`?` must stay RARE — it means "we tried and could not tell", not "we didn't look".** Use it
-       ONLY when a scan ran and reported genuinely failed sources. In particular: a recipe with **no
-       upgrade this run** (up-to-date/skipped) has nothing an upgrade could have fixed — report `0`,
-       not `?`. A recipe with a clean scan reports its number (including `0`). Benign notes in a scan
+       ONLY when a scan ran and reported genuinely failed sources, **or when the scan block says
+       COUNT UNKNOWN** (it refuses to classify across a version-scheme change, e.g. semver → calver —
+       discourse 3.5.3 → 2026.7.1). In that case the scan's `0` means *not determined*: publish `?`
+       and say so in the notes; publishing `0` would assert a clean bill of health nothing supports.
+       (The scan headline itself now says `UNKNOWN` rather than a number in that case.)
+       In particular: a recipe with **no upgrade this run** (up-to-date/skipped) has nothing an
+       upgrade could have fixed — report `0`, not `?`. A recipe with a clean scan reports its number (including `0`). Benign notes in a scan
        block (`no-advisories-published`, `skipped: template URL`) are NOT failures and must not
        trigger `?`. If you find yourself rendering `?` for many recipes, that is a bug to report in
        the Addendum, not a normal outcome.
diff --git a/cc-ci-plan/advisory-scan.py b/cc-ci-plan/advisory-scan.py
index ebd4611..8fad2a9 100755
--- a/cc-ci-plan/advisory-scan.py
+++ b/cc-ci-plan/advisory-scan.py
@@ -319,7 +319,11 @@ def scan(recipe: str, v_from: str | None, v_to: str | None, registry_dir: str) -
                 unknown.append(cve)
     report["fixed_by_this_upgrade"] = sorted(fixed)
     report["unclassified"] = sorted(unknown)
-    report["cve_count_fixed"] = len(fixed)
+    # NEVER report 0 for something we could not determine. When classification was refused, the
+    # count is UNKNOWN (null) — a 0 would be read as "no CVEs", which is an assertion this scan
+    # cannot make. Consumers must distinguish "counted 0" from "could not count".
+    report["count_known"] = not scheme_change
+    report["cve_count_fixed"] = len(fixed) if not scheme_change else None
     report["cve_count_total_seen"] = len(report["cves"])
     # Only GENUINE failures make a count unreliable. "no-advisories-published" (404: the repo has
     # no advisory feed) and "skipped: template URL" are benign and must not degrade the verdict.
@@ -340,6 +344,21 @@ def markdown(rep: dict) -> str:
     """Human/agent-readable block for pasting into the per-recipe upgrade log."""
     L = [f"### Advisory scan (deterministic pre-step) — {rep['recipe']} "
          f"{rep.get('from') or '?'} → {rep.get('to') or '?'}"]
+    if not rep.get("count_known", True):
+        L.append("\n**CVEs fixed by this upgrade: UNKNOWN — the scan could NOT determine a count.**")
+        L.append("\n⚠ This is NOT zero. A version-scheme change (e.g. semver → calver) makes numeric "
+                 "ordering meaningless across this jump, so no advisory could be classified. Render "
+                 "this recipe's cve cell as `?`, never `0`. Read the vendor's release notes for the "
+                 "jump and count by hand.")
+        if rep["unclassified"]:
+            L.append(f"\nAdvisories seen but unclassifiable ({len(rep['unclassified'])}) — includes "
+                     f"other images in this recipe: " + ", ".join(rep["unclassified"][:12]))
+        if rep["sources_failed"]:
+            L.append(f"\n⚠ sources that FAILED: {', '.join(rep['sources_failed'])}")
+        L.append(f"\n_Sources checked: {len(rep['sources'])} ({rep['registry_urls']} registry URLs + "
+                 f"advisory APIs). This scan is ADDITIVE — it does not replace the release-note "
+                 f"reading in the upgrade step._")
+        return "\n".join(L)
     if rep["fixed_by_this_upgrade"]:
         L.append(f"\n**CVEs fixed by this upgrade: {rep['cve_count_fixed']}**\n")
         L.append("| CVE | severity | fixed in | advisory | source |")
@@ -350,10 +369,6 @@ def markdown(rep: dict) -> str:
                      f"{e.get('ghsa') or '-'} | {e['sources'][0]} |")
     else:
         L.append("\n**CVEs fixed by this upgrade: 0 identified by the deterministic scan.**")
-    if rep.get("scheme_change"):
-        L.append("\n⚠ **Version-scheme change detected** (e.g. semver → calver): numeric ordering is "
-                 "not meaningful across it, so NOTHING was auto-classified. The CVE count above is "
-                 "**0 by refusal, not by evidence** — read the vendor's release notes for this jump.")
     if rep["unclassified"]:
         L.append(f"\nSeen but not version-classified ({len(rep['unclassified'])}) — includes advisories "
                  f"from OTHER images in this recipe (sidecars), which this window cannot judge: "