diff --git a/.changeset/20644-dataset-answer-object.md b/.changeset/20644-dataset-answer-object.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..211be8d4900
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/20644-dataset-answer-object.md
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/service-analytics': patch
+---
+
+fix(service-analytics): every dataset answer names its base object as `object` (#20644)
+
+Clause-②: no
+
+**What was wrong.** `queryDataset` set `object`, the dataset's base object, only
+while it built drill-through metadata, which it builds only when a drillable
+dimension is selected and at least one row came back. A dimension-less (KPI)
+answer, a zero-row answer and the degraded answer for an unavailable backing
+object carried no `object`, and neither did a draft preview (`previewDrafts`),
+grouped or not. `POST /api/v1/analytics/dataset/query` relays the service answer
+as it is, so a consumer that refreshes on that object's record changes had
+nothing to subscribe to for those answers.
+
+**What changed.** Every `queryDataset` answer carries `object`, the dataset's
+`object` by machine name, whatever dimensions are selected and whether or not
+rows came back, as `AnalyticsResult.object` in `@objectstack/spec` declares. A
+grouped answer is unchanged: `object` sits beside the same drill-through keys
+as before. A cube `query` answer still carries no `object`.
diff --git a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/dataset-answer-object.test.ts b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/dataset-answer-object.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9889298ee22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/dataset-answer-object.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * #20644 — every dataset answer names its base object.
+ *
+ * `AnalyticsResult.object` (`@objectstack/spec/contracts`) is declared as a
+ * producer obligation for `queryDataset`: EVERY dataset answer carries it,
+ * whatever dimensions are selected and whether or not rows came back, and a
+ * `query` (cube) answer carries none. A consumer keys its record-change
+ * refresh on it, so a dimension-less KPI tile whose answer lacks it subscribes
+ * to nothing and never re-reads.
+ *
+ * The service used to set it only inside the two drill-through blocks, which
+ * need a drillable dimension AND at least one row. So a dimension-less answer,
+ * a zero-row answer, the draft-preview answer (it returns before those blocks)
+ * and the degraded "backing object unavailable" answer all went without.
+ *
+ * One block per exit `queryDataset` has — the main return, the draft-preview
+ * return and the degraded return — and the contract's cube-side negative. The
+ * main exit is driven through both strategies a dataset query can take, so the
+ * answer does not depend on which one served it.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { DatasetSchema } from '@objectstack/spec/ui';
+import type { ExecutionContext } from '@objectstack/spec/kernel';
+import type { AnalyticsResult } from '@objectstack/spec/contracts';
+import { AnalyticsService } from '../analytics-service.js';
+
+const CTX = { tenantId: 'org_A' } as ExecutionContext;
+
+const DATASET = DatasetSchema.parse({
+  name: 'pipeline',
+  label: 'Pipeline',
+  object: 'opportunity',
+  include: [],
+  dimensions: [{ name: 'stage', field: 'stage', type: 'string' }],
+  measures: [{ name: 'revenue', aggregate: 'sum', field: 'amount' }],
+});
+
+/** A KPI tile: no dimension selected. */
+const KPI = { dimensions: [], measures: ['revenue'] };
+/** A chart grouped by a drillable (non-date) dimension. */
+const GROUPED = { dimensions: ['stage'], measures: ['revenue'] };
+
+type Capabilities = () => { nativeSql: boolean; objectqlAggregate: boolean; inMemory: boolean };
+
+const STRATEGY_PATHS: ReadonlyArray<{ label: string; capabilities: Capabilities }> = [
+  { label: 'NativeSQLStrategy', capabilities: () => ({ nativeSql: true, objectqlAggregate: false, inMemory: false }) },
+  { label: 'ObjectQLStrategy', capabilities: () => ({ nativeSql: false, objectqlAggregate: true, inMemory: false }) },
+];
+
+/**
+ * A service whose driver answers `rows` to every query, on either strategy.
+ * A dimension-less selection gets the rows with their dimension keys dropped,
+ * which is what a real `GROUP BY`-less aggregate answers.
+ */
+function serviceAnswering(capabilities: Capabilities, rows: Record<string, unknown>[], extra: object = {}) {
+  const answer = async () => rows.map((r) => ({ ...r }));
+  return new AnalyticsService({
+    queryCapabilities: capabilities,
+    executeRawSql: answer,
+    executeAggregate: answer,
+    ...extra,
+  });
+}
+
+describe.each(STRATEGY_PATHS)('the main exit names the base object — $label', ({ capabilities }) => {
+  it('`dimensions: []` answers `object`', async () => {
+    const answer = await serviceAnswering(capabilities, [{ revenue: 150 }]).queryDataset(DATASET, KPI, CTX);
+
+    expect(answer.rows).toEqual([{ revenue: 150 }]);
+    expect(answer.object).toBe('opportunity');
+  });
+
+  it('a zero-row answer answers `object` — grouped or not', async () => {
+    const svc = serviceAnswering(capabilities, []);
+
+    const grouped = await svc.queryDataset(DATASET, GROUPED, CTX);
+    expect(grouped.rows).toEqual([]);
+    expect(grouped.object).toBe('opportunity');
+
+    const kpi = await svc.queryDataset(DATASET, KPI, CTX);
+    expect(kpi.rows).toEqual([]);
+    expect(kpi.object).toBe('opportunity');
+  });
+
+  it('a grouped answer is unchanged: `object` beside the drill-through keys it always carried', async () => {
+    const answer = await serviceAnswering(capabilities, [{ stage: 'won', revenue: 100 }]).queryDataset(
+      DATASET,
+      GROUPED,
+      CTX,
+    );
+
+    expect(answer).toMatchObject({
+      rows: [{ stage: 'won', revenue: 100 }],
+      object: 'opportunity',
+      dimensionFields: { stage: 'stage' },
+      drillRawRows: [{ stage: 'won' }],
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+describe('the draft-preview exit names the base object', () => {
+  // The preview branch evaluates the selection over the base object's pending
+  // seed rows in memory and returns early, ahead of everything the main exit
+  // does after the query — so it is the exit a drill-branch-only `object` never
+  // reached, grouped or not.
+  const SEED = [
+    { stage: 'won', amount: 100 },
+    { stage: 'lost', amount: 50 },
+  ];
+  const previewService = () =>
+    serviceAnswering(STRATEGY_PATHS[1].capabilities, [], { draftRowsResolver: async () => SEED });
+
+  it('a dimension-less preview answers `object`', async () => {
+    const answer = await previewService().queryDataset(DATASET, KPI, CTX, { previewDrafts: true });
+
+    expect(answer.rows).toEqual([{ revenue: 150 }]);
+    expect(answer.object).toBe('opportunity');
+  });
+
+  it('a grouped preview answers `object`', async () => {
+    const answer = await previewService().queryDataset(DATASET, GROUPED, CTX, { previewDrafts: true });
+
+    expect(answer.rows).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(answer.object).toBe('opportunity');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('the degraded exit names the base object', () => {
+  it('"backing object unavailable" answers no rows, and still `object`', async () => {
+    const logger = { info: vi.fn(), debug: vi.fn(), warn: vi.fn(), error: vi.fn(), child: vi.fn() } as any;
+    const svc = new AnalyticsService({
+      queryCapabilities: STRATEGY_PATHS[0].capabilities,
+      executeRawSql: async () => {
+        throw new Error('SELECT SUM("amount") FROM "opportunity" - no such table: opportunity');
+      },
+      logger,
+    });
+
+    const answer = await svc.queryDataset(DATASET, KPI, CTX);
+
+    expect(answer).toEqual({ rows: [], fields: [], totals: [], object: 'opportunity' });
+    // …and it is the degraded exit that answered, not a main-exit zero-row one.
+    expect(logger.warn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining('backing object "opportunity" is unavailable'));
+  });
+});
+
+describe.each(STRATEGY_PATHS)('a cube `query` answer carries no `object` — $label', ({ capabilities }) => {
+  // The negative the contract states: a cube answer has no dataset behind it.
+  // The hardest case for it is a cube that IS a registered dataset's compiled
+  // cube, queried by name through `query()` on a service that has just answered
+  // a dataset query for the same dataset — every query `queryDataset` issues
+  // runs through the same body as `query()`, so an `object` stamped anywhere
+  // on that shared path would surface here.
+  it('not on a registered dataset\'s cube, not after a dataset answer on the same service', async () => {
+    const svc = serviceAnswering(capabilities, [{ revenue: 150 }], { datasets: [DATASET] });
+
+    // A dataset answer first, from the same service over the same compiled cube.
+    await svc.queryDataset(DATASET, KPI, CTX);
+
+    const cube: AnalyticsResult = await svc.query({ cube: 'pipeline', measures: ['revenue'] }, CTX);
+    expect(cube.rows).toEqual([{ revenue: 150 }]);
+    expect('object' in cube).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/dataset-degradation-envelope.test.ts b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/dataset-degradation-envelope.test.ts
index f50e4ab7ef8..7b284aaa737 100644
--- a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/dataset-degradation-envelope.test.ts
+++ b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/dataset-degradation-envelope.test.ts
@@ -100,7 +100,8 @@ interface Refusal extends Error {
   status?: unknown;
 }
 
-const EMPTY = { rows: [], fields: [], totals: [] };
+/** The degraded answer: no rows — and, like every dataset answer, its base object (#20644). */
+const EMPTY = { rows: [], fields: [], totals: [], object: 'opportunity' };
 
 const dataset = DatasetSchema.parse({
   name: 'sales',
diff --git a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/missing-column-phrase-hard-failure.test.ts b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/missing-column-phrase-hard-failure.test.ts
index 7f79783fb15..327bad451e7 100644
--- a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/missing-column-phrase-hard-failure.test.ts
+++ b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/missing-column-phrase-hard-failure.test.ts
@@ -95,7 +95,8 @@ import type { ExecutionContext } from '@objectstack/spec/kernel';
 import { matchMissingColumnOfRelation } from '@objectstack/types';
 import { AnalyticsService } from '../analytics-service.js';
 
-const EMPTY = { rows: [], fields: [], totals: [] };
+/** The degraded answer: no rows — and, like every dataset answer, its base object (#20644). */
+const EMPTY = { rows: [], fields: [], totals: [], object: 'opportunity' };
 
 const dataset = DatasetSchema.parse({
   name: 'sales',
diff --git a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/query-dataset.test.ts b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/query-dataset.test.ts
index cca867905cb..eab855be937 100644
--- a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/query-dataset.test.ts
+++ b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/query-dataset.test.ts
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@ describe('AnalyticsService.queryDataset', () => {
       executeRawSql: async () => { throw new Error('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM "opportunity" - no such table: opportunity'); },
     });
     const result = await svc.queryDataset(dataset, { dimensions: ['region'], measures: ['revenue'] }, { tenantId: 'org_A' } as ExecutionContext);
-    expect(result).toEqual({ rows: [], fields: [], totals: [] });
+    // No rows — and, like every dataset answer, the base object (#20644).
+    expect(result).toEqual({ rows: [], fields: [], totals: [], object: 'opportunity' });
   });
 
   it('still throws on a non-missing-source error (real query bugs surface)', async () => {
@@ -282,8 +283,10 @@ describe('AnalyticsService.queryDataset', () => {
     const result = await svc.queryDataset(dated, { dimensions: ['closed'], measures: ['revenue'] }, { tenantId: 'org_A' } as ExecutionContext) as any;
     // No drillable (non-date) dimension → no drill metadata at all.
     expect(result.dimensionFields).toBeUndefined();
-    expect(result.object).toBeUndefined();
     expect(result.drillRawRows).toBeUndefined();
+    // `object` is not drill metadata: it names the answer's subject, and every
+    // dataset answer carries it whether or not a dimension is drillable (#20644).
+    expect(result.object).toBe('opportunity');
     // …and, absent a `dateGranularity`, no RANGE sidecar either (it's not a bucket).
     expect(result.drillRanges).toBeUndefined();
   });
diff --git a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/raw-sql-object-routing.test.ts b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/raw-sql-object-routing.test.ts
index 9cbb9fec81e..c318491128a 100644
--- a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/raw-sql-object-routing.test.ts
+++ b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/raw-sql-object-routing.test.ts
@@ -365,7 +365,8 @@ describe('graceful degradation survives for a genuinely missing table (#5033)',
 
     const result = await service.queryDataset(auditDataset as never, auditSelection as never);
 
-    expect(result).toEqual({ rows: [], fields: [], totals: [] });
+    // No rows — and, like every dataset answer, the base object (#20644).
+    expect(result).toEqual({ rows: [], fields: [], totals: [], object: 'sys_audit_log' });
     expect(warn.mock.calls.map(String).join('\n')).toMatch(
       /dataset "sys_audit_log_metrics" backing object "sys_audit_log" is unavailable/,
     );
@@ -389,7 +390,8 @@ describe('graceful degradation survives for a genuinely missing table (#5033)',
       { dimensions: ['region'], measures: ['event_count'] } as never,
     );
 
-    expect(result).toEqual({ rows: [], fields: [], totals: [] });
+    // No rows — and, like every dataset answer, the base object (#20644).
+    expect(result).toEqual({ rows: [], fields: [], totals: [], object: 'sys_audit_log' });
     expect(warn.mock.calls.map(String).join('\n')).toMatch(/is unavailable/);
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/read-scope-resolution-envelope.test.ts b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/read-scope-resolution-envelope.test.ts
index 031e955a644..81eacfb2e9b 100644
--- a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/read-scope-resolution-envelope.test.ts
+++ b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/__tests__/read-scope-resolution-envelope.test.ts
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ interface Refusal extends Error {
   status?: unknown;
 }
 
-const EMPTY = { rows: [], fields: [], totals: [] };
+/** The degraded answer: no rows — and, like every dataset answer, its base object (#20644). */
+const EMPTY = { rows: [], fields: [], totals: [], object: 'opportunity' };
 
 const dataset = DatasetSchema.parse({
   name: 'sales',
diff --git a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/analytics-service.ts b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/analytics-service.ts
index 9d77adcd798..f5a69cba723 100644
--- a/packages/services/service-analytics/src/analytics-service.ts
+++ b/packages/services/service-analytics/src/analytics-service.ts
@@ -92,10 +92,12 @@ import { ACCEPTED_SQL_DIALECTS, isUnrecognisedSqlDialectAnswer, type AcceptedSql
  * Analytics result augmented with drill-through metadata (ADR-0021 D2; see
  * queryDataset). Carried alongside `rows` so the host can drill a clicked bucket
  * back to the underlying records without the renderer knowing field mappings.
+ *
+ * The object those records belong to is not part of this augmentation: it is
+ * the contract's own `AnalyticsResult.object`, which every dataset answer
+ * carries, drillable or not (#20644).
  */
 type AnalyticsResultWithDrill = AnalyticsResult & {
-  /** The dataset's base object — the host drills into its records. */
-  object?: string;
   /** Selected drillable dimension NAME → underlying object FIELD name. */
   dimensionFields?: Record<string, string>;
   /**
@@ -1756,12 +1758,36 @@ export class AnalyticsService implements IAnalyticsService {
    * call's queries and nothing else, so a dataset named like a configured cube
    * neither replaces that cube nor re-publishes it, whatever the request's
    * admission answers.
+   *
+   * [#20644] Every answer names the dataset's base object as `object`
+   * (`AnalyticsResult.object`), whatever dimensions were selected and whether
+   * or not rows came back. It is set here, once, on the path every exit of
+   * {@link answerDataset} leaves through — the draft-preview return, the
+   * degraded "backing object unavailable" return and the main return — so an
+   * exit added later inherits it instead of needing its own copy. `query()`
+   * never passes through here, so a cube answer carries none.
    */
   async queryDataset(
     dataset: Dataset,
     selection: DatasetSelection,
     context?: ExecutionContext,
     options?: { previewDrafts?: boolean },
+  ): Promise<AnalyticsResult> {
+    const answer = await this.answerDataset(dataset, selection, context, options);
+    // A copy rather than a write onto `answer`, which may be the very object a
+    // strategy returned (the same ownership rule `applySqlEchoPolicy` keeps).
+    return { ...answer, object: dataset.object };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The body of {@link queryDataset}. None of its exits sets `object`: the
+   * caller sets it once, for all of them.
+   */
+  private async answerDataset(
+    dataset: Dataset,
+    selection: DatasetSelection,
+    context?: ExecutionContext,
+    options?: { previewDrafts?: boolean },
   ): Promise<AnalyticsResult> {
     const compiled = this.compile(dataset);
     this.logger.debug(`[Analytics] queryDataset "${dataset.name}" (object=${dataset.object}, include=${(dataset.include ?? []).join(',') || '—'})`);
@@ -1933,13 +1959,13 @@ export class AnalyticsService implements IAnalyticsService {
     // dimension NAMES, and the label resolution below OVERWRITES the raw grouped
     // value in each row with its display label. So before that happens, snapshot
     // the raw grouped values into a PARALLEL array (aligned to `rows` by index —
-    // the result rows are NOT mutated) and expose the dataset's `object` +
-    // dimension→field mapping so the renderer can build an exact-match filter.
+    // the result rows are NOT mutated) and expose the dimension→field mapping so
+    // the renderer can build an exact-match filter over the answer's `object`
+    // (set by {@link queryDataset} on every answer, drillable or not).
     // Date buckets are excluded — a humanized bucket ("2026-06") can't be
     // exact-matched against the stored timestamp, so they are not drillable.
     const drillDims = selectedDims.filter((d) => !!d.field && d.type !== 'date');
     if (drillDims.length && result.rows.length) {
-      (result as AnalyticsResultWithDrill).object = dataset.object;
       (result as AnalyticsResultWithDrill).dimensionFields = Object.fromEntries(
         drillDims.map((d) => [d.name, d.field as string]),
       );
@@ -2016,10 +2042,6 @@ export class AnalyticsService implements IAnalyticsService {
         }
         return ranges;
       });
-      // The equality drill block sets `object` only when a NON-date drill dim
-      // exists; a report grouped ONLY by time still needs the base object so the
-      // host can open its list. Safe to (re)set to the same dataset object.
-      (result as AnalyticsResultWithDrill).object = dataset.object;
     }
 
     // ADR-0021 — resolve grouped dimension values to human display labels