@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/metadata-protocol': patch
+---
+
+fix(metadata-protocol): an offset with no limit reports the filtered total
+
+Clause-②: no
+Metadata-protocol: none
+
+A Data API list read that skipped rows without naming a page size reported a wrong `total`: the number of matching rows minus the offset. `GET /api/v1/data/OBJECT?$skip=3&$count=true` over 14 rows answered `total: 11`, while the same query with `$top=100` answered 14, and `POST /api/v1/data/OBJECT/query` with `{"offset":999,"count":true}` answered `total: 0`. `total` is now the number of rows matching the filter whatever the offset, as it already was when a limit was present.
+
+Such a request now runs the same count a paged request runs, over the same filter and search. `$count=false` with an offset issues no count and omits `total`, as it does with a limit. A read with neither an offset nor a limit is unchanged and issues no count.
+
+What to do: nothing. A client that pages with `$skip` (or `offset`) alone now reads the true total.
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * #28547 — a list's `total` is the filtered count whatever the offset, also
+ * when no limit is given.
+ *
+ * ## What was wrong
+ *
+ * `findData` decided "is this a paged request?" from the limit alone. Without
+ * one it kept `total = records.length` on the reasoning that "the full result
+ * set is returned". With an offset that reasoning is false: the read returns
+ * every match AFTER the offset, so the total short-counted by exactly the
+ * offset. Measured on the stock showcase (`showcase_account`, 14 rows):
+ *
+ *   GET  ?$skip=3&$count=true             11 rows, total 11   ← the defect
+ *   GET  ?$skip=3&$top=100&$count=true    11 rows, total 14
+ *   POST {"offset":3,"count":true}        total 11            ← the defect
+ *   POST {"offset":999,"count":true}      total 0             ← the defect
+ *
+ * ## What this suite pins
+ *
+ *  1. An offset with no limit reports the filtered count, on both the GET
+ *     dialect (`$skip`) and the POST body form (`offset`), and an offset past
+ *     the end still reports it (so "add the offset back" is not a fix: it
+ *     would answer 999 there).
+ *  2. CONTROL — a filter and a search move the count like any other paged
+ *     request (#22790: the COUNT carries what the rows were read with).
+ *  3. The neighbouring arms keep their meaning: no offset and no limit issues
+ *     no COUNT; a limit is unchanged; `$count=false` with an offset issues no
+ *     COUNT and omits `total` (#10757).
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { ObjectStackProtocolImplementation } from './protocol.js';
+
+const SCHEMA = {
+    name: 'mz_account',
+    nameField: 'name',
+    fields: {
+        name: { name: 'name', type: 'text' },
+        tier: { name: 'tier', type: 'text' },
+    },
+};
+
+// 14 rows, like the showcase's seeded `showcase_account`; 4 of them in tier `b`.
+const ROWS = Array.from({ length: 14 }, (_, i) => ({
+    id: `a${i}`,
+    name: `a${i}`,
+    tier: i % 4 === 3 || i === 0 ? 'b' : 'a',
+}));
+const TIER_B = ROWS.filter((r) => r.tier === 'b').length;
+
+/**
+ * Equality-only `where`, the shape the implicit field filter `?tier=b` lowers
+ * to. Anything else is REFUSED rather than answered silently wrong.
+ */
+function matches(row: Record<string, unknown>, where: unknown): boolean {
+    if (where == null) return true;
+    if (typeof where !== 'object' || Array.isArray(where)) {
+        throw new Error(`test double: unexpected where shape ${JSON.stringify(where)}`);
+    }
+    return Object.entries(where as Record<string, unknown>).every(([k, v]) => {
+        if (k.startsWith('$')) throw new Error(`test double: combinator '${k}' is not implemented`);
+        if (v !== null && typeof v === 'object') throw new Error(`test double: operator on '${k}' is not implemented`);
+        return row[k] === v;
+    });
+}
+
+/**
+ * An engine double that honours `offset` and `limit` as written, and counts
+ * over the same `where`.
+ */
+function makeProtocol() {
+    const find = vi.fn(async (_object: string, opts: any = {}) => {
+        const hits = ROWS.filter((r) => matches(r, opts.where));
+        const offset = typeof opts.offset === 'number' ? opts.offset : 0;
+        const sliced = hits.slice(offset);
+        return opts.limit !== undefined ? sliced.slice(0, opts.limit) : sliced;
+    });
+    const count = vi.fn(async (_object: string, opts: any = {}) => ROWS.filter((r) => matches(r, opts.where)).length);
+    const engine = {
+        registry: { getObject: (n: string) => (n === SCHEMA.name ? SCHEMA : undefined) },
+        find,
+        count,
+        aggregate: vi.fn(async () => [] as unknown[]),
+    };
+    return { p: new ObjectStackProtocolImplementation(engine as any), find, count };
+}
+
+async function list(query: Record<string, unknown>) {
+    const h = makeProtocol();
+    const result: any = await h.p.findData({ object: SCHEMA.name, query } as never);
+    return { result, ...h };
+}
+
+describe('[#28547] an offset with no limit reports the filtered total', () => {
+    it('GET ?$skip=3&$count=true answers the match count, not the count after the offset', async () => {
+        const { result, count } = await list({ $skip: '3', $count: 'true' });
+
+        expect(result.records).toHaveLength(11);
+        expect(result.total).toBe(14);
+        expect(result.hasMore).toBe(false);
+        expect(count).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    });
+
+    it('POST {"offset":3,"count":true} answers the same', async () => {
+        const { result } = await list({ offset: 3, count: true });
+
+        expect(result.records).toHaveLength(11);
+        expect(result.total).toBe(14);
+        expect(result.hasMore).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('an offset past the end returns no rows and still reports the match count', async () => {
+        const { result } = await list({ offset: 999, count: true });
+
+        expect(result.records).toEqual([]);
+        expect(result.total).toBe(14);
+        expect(result.hasMore).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('agrees with the same offset under a limit', async () => {
+        const withoutLimit = await list({ $skip: '3', $count: 'true' });
+        const withLimit = await list({ $skip: '3', $top: '100', $count: 'true' });
+
+        expect(withoutLimit.result.total).toBe(withLimit.result.total);
+        expect(withoutLimit.result.records).toEqual(withLimit.result.records);
+    });
+
+    it('an absent $count reports the same total as $count=true', async () => {
+        const { result } = await list({ skip: '3' });
+
+        expect(result.total).toBe(14);
+    });
+});
+
+describe('[#28547] CONTROL — the count is the filtered count', () => {
+    it('a filter moves the total, and the rows are read past the offset', async () => {
+        const { result, count } = await list({ $skip: '1', tier: 'b' });
+
+        expect(result.records).toHaveLength(TIER_B - 1);
+        expect(result.total).toBe(TIER_B);
+        expect((count.mock.calls[0] as unknown[])[1]).toMatchObject({ where: { tier: 'b' } });
+    });
+
+    it('a search is counted with the search the rows were read with (#22790)', async () => {
+        const { count, find } = await list({ $skip: '2', $search: 'a1' });
+
+        expect(count).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+        expect((count.mock.calls[0] as unknown[])[1]).toMatchObject({ search: 'a1' });
+        expect((find.mock.calls[0] as unknown[])[1]).toMatchObject({ search: 'a1' });
+    });
+});
+
+describe('[#28547] the neighbouring arms keep their meaning', () => {
+    it('no offset and no limit: no COUNT, total is the set length', async () => {
+        const { result, count } = await list({ $count: 'true' });
+
+        expect(count).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+        expect(result.total).toBe(14);
+        expect(result.hasMore).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('an explicit offset of 0 is no offset: no COUNT', async () => {
+        const { result, count } = await list({ offset: 0, count: true });
+
+        expect(count).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+        expect(result.total).toBe(14);
+    });
+
+    it('a limit is unchanged: one COUNT, total is the match count, hasMore from the page', async () => {
+        const { result, count } = await list({ offset: 3, limit: 5, count: true });
+
+        expect(count).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+        expect(result.records).toHaveLength(5);
+        expect(result.total).toBe(14);
+        expect(result.hasMore).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('$count=false with an offset issues no COUNT and omits total (#10757)', async () => {
+        for (const query of [{ $skip: '3', $count: 'false' }, { offset: 3, count: false }]) {
+            const { result, count } = await list(query);
+
+            expect(count, JSON.stringify(query)).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+            expect('total' in result, JSON.stringify(query)).toBe(false);
+            expect(result.records, JSON.stringify(query)).toHaveLength(11);
+            expect(result.hasMore, JSON.stringify(query)).toBe(false);
+        }
+    });
+});
@@ -14064,7 +14064,17 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
         // page, so `records.length` is the page size — NOT the match total. Run a
         // count over the same `where` so the client can render total pages and know
         // whether more pages remain (true server-side pagination). Without a limit
-        // the full result set is returned, so its length already IS the total.
+        // AND without an offset the full result set is returned, so its length
+        // already IS the total.
+        //
+        // [#28547] An offset with no limit is a paged request too. The read
+        // returns every match AFTER the offset, so `records.length` is the
+        // match count MINUS the offset: `?$skip=3&$count=true` over 14 rows
+        // answered `total: 11` while `?$skip=3&$top=100&$count=true` answered
+        // 14, and an offset past the end answered `total: 0`. Adding the offset
+        // back is not the fix (it says 999 for `offset: 999` over 14 rows), so
+        // such a request takes the one count path below, `$count=false` arm
+        // included: `total` is the filtered count whatever the offset.
         //
         // [#22790] The count takes the query's `search` / `searchFields` too: the
         // engine expands them through the one ADR-0061 expander `find` uses, so
@@ -14087,7 +14097,7 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
         const pageOffset = typeof options.offset === 'number' && options.offset > 0 ? options.offset : 0;
         let total: number | undefined = records.length;
         let hasMore = false;
-        if (pageLimit !== undefined) {
+        if (pageLimit !== undefined || pageOffset > 0) {
             // `distinct` used to suppress the count here too — #4286 finding 2:
             // the flag's ONLY observable effect platform-wide, on a capability
             // that never deduplicated a row. Removed with `query.distinct`
@@ -14110,7 +14120,9 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
                 // `hasMore` is still answered, from the page alone: a FULL page
                 // means there may be more. It never over-reports the data — it
                 // can only say "maybe more" on an exactly-full last page.
-                hasMore = records.length === pageLimit;
+                // With an offset and no limit, every row after the offset came
+                // back, so there is no further page.
+                hasMore = pageLimit !== undefined && records.length === pageLimit;
                 total = undefined;
             } else {
                 // [#10757] `counted` is a separate, always-assigned local so