diff --git a/ui/QUICK_REFERENCE.md b/ui/QUICK_REFERENCE.md
index cbd2937dd0f..b0fba44e522 100644
--- a/ui/QUICK_REFERENCE.md
+++ b/ui/QUICK_REFERENCE.md
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ pnpm changeset publish         # Publish to npm (CI only)
 
 | Path | Purpose |
 | --- | --- |
-| `packages/*` | 35 published packages (`@object-ui/*`), plus the private `vscode-extension`, `test-support` (test-only, never released), `runner` (workspace demo app, never released) and `app-shell` (the Console's shell and views, no longer published after 18.2.0) |
+| `packages/*` | The published `@object-ui/*` packages, plus the private `vscode-extension`, `test-support` (test-only, never released), `runner` (workspace demo app, never released) and `app-shell` (the Console's shell and views, no longer published after 18.2.0) |
 | `apps/console` | Full ObjectUI console app (Vite + React) |
 | `apps/site` | Public docs site at <https://www.objectui.org> (fumadocs) |
 | `examples/*` | Runnable examples and the schema catalog — see [`examples/README.md`](./examples/README.md) |
diff --git a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/badge-demo-label-6829.test.tsx b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/badge-demo-label-6829.test.tsx
index 517ecc6cb01..3603fcb207f 100644
--- a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/badge-demo-label-6829.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/badge-demo-label-6829.test.tsx
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ import { render } from '@testing-library/react';
 import '@object-ui/components';
 import { SchemaRenderer, toRenderableSchema } from '@object-ui/react';
 import { allExamples, getExample } from '../src/index.js';
+import { CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR } from './catalog-entry-floor.js';
 
 type Json = Record<string, unknown>;
 
@@ -245,10 +246,12 @@ const containers = entries.flatMap((entry) =>
 describe('catalog corpus: every `badge` node draws its authored `label` (objectui#6829 arm A)', () => {
   it('the walk is not vacuous — a broken collector would pass every case below', () => {
     // Floors, not equalities: catalog growth must not fail this file, only a
-    // walk that stopped working.
-    expect(entries.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(431);
-    expect(badges.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(40);
-    expect(new Set(badges.map((b) => b.where.split('/')[0])).size).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(12);
+    // walk that stopped working. About two thirds of the counts measured on
+    // objectstack 6a7c0fe3 (40 badges in 12 categories), so deleting an entry
+    // does not fail it either.
+    expect(entries.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR);
+    expect(badges.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(27);
+    expect(new Set(badges.map((b) => b.where.split('/')[0])).size).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(8);
     // …and it sees the seven nodes this card is about, by location.
     expect(badges.map((b) => b.where)).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(REAUTHORED_NODES));
   });
diff --git a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/card-demo-content-6788.test.tsx b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/card-demo-content-6788.test.tsx
index 8c0097be64b..18fcad839eb 100644
--- a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/card-demo-content-6788.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/card-demo-content-6788.test.tsx
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ import '@object-ui/components';
 import { SchemaRenderer, toRenderableSchema } from '@object-ui/react';
 import { CardSchema } from '@object-ui/types/zod';
 import { allExamples } from '../src/index.js';
+import { CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR } from './catalog-entry-floor.js';
 
 type Json = Record<string, unknown>;
 
@@ -213,11 +214,13 @@ function unreadKeys(node: Json, allowed: readonly string[]): string[] {
 
 describe('catalog corpus: every `card` node authors keys `ui:card` reads (objectui#6788)', () => {
   it('the walk is not vacuous — a broken collector would pass every case below', () => {
-    // Measured on d06059f24; these are floors, not equalities, so growth of
-    // the catalog does not fail the file — only a walk that stopped working.
-    expect(entries.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(431);
-    expect(cards.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(93);
-    expect(new Set(cards.map((c) => c.where.split('/')[0])).size).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(19);
+    // Floors, not equalities, so growth of the catalog does not fail the file —
+    // only a walk that stopped working. About two thirds of the counts measured
+    // on objectstack 6a7c0fe3 (93 cards in 19 categories), so deleting an entry
+    // does not fail it either.
+    expect(entries.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR);
+    expect(cards.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(62);
+    expect(new Set(cards.map((c) => c.where.split('/')[0])).size).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(13);
   });
 
   it('every authored key is DECLARED by the shipped CardSchema', () => {
diff --git a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-authored-key-6805-6806.test.tsx b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-authored-key-6805-6806.test.tsx
index 3afe8018f83..50b4ea42a45 100644
--- a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-authored-key-6805-6806.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-authored-key-6805-6806.test.tsx
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ import { render } from '@testing-library/react';
 import '@object-ui/components';
 import { SchemaRenderer, toRenderableSchema } from '@object-ui/react';
 import { allExamples } from '../src/index.js';
+import { CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR } from './catalog-entry-floor.js';
 
 type Json = Record<string, unknown>;
 
@@ -150,7 +151,8 @@ const RENDERERS = [
     readKeys: ['type', 'orientation', 'height', 'width', 'className', 'children'],
     contentKey: 'children',
     issue: 'objectui#6805',
-    minNodes: 7,
+    // About two thirds of the 7 measured on objectstack 6a7c0fe3.
+    minNodes: 5,
   },
   {
     type: 'badge',
@@ -161,7 +163,8 @@ const RENDERERS = [
     readKeys: ['type', 'label', 'variant', 'className', 'body'],
     contentKey: 'label',
     issue: 'objectui#6806',
-    minNodes: 40,
+    // About two thirds of the 40 measured on objectstack 6a7c0fe3.
+    minNodes: 27,
   },
 ] as const;
 
@@ -256,8 +259,9 @@ const nodesOf = (type: string): Located[] =>
 describe('catalog corpus: every node authors keys ITS renderer reads (objectui#6805 + objectui#6806)', () => {
   it('the walk is not vacuous — a broken collector would pass every case below', () => {
     // Floors, not equalities: catalog growth must not fail this file, only a
-    // walk that stopped working.
-    expect(entries.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(431);
+    // walk that stopped working — and at about two thirds of the measured
+    // counts, so deleting an entry does not fail it either.
+    expect(entries.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR);
     for (const renderer of RENDERERS) {
       expect(nodesOf(renderer.type).length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(renderer.minNodes);
     }
diff --git a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-entry-floor.ts b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-entry-floor.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3563dd2957f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-entry-floor.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+/**
+ * The ONE anti-vacuity floor for the size of the catalog (`allExamples()`), read
+ * by every test here that guards its own sweep against an empty corpus.
+ *
+ * A floor, not a census: it answers "did the collector find a corpus at all?",
+ * so catalog growth never moves it and neither does deleting an entry. It sits
+ * at about two thirds of the 432 entries measured on objectstack `origin/main`
+ * `6a7c0fe3` (the `vite-dts-wiring-ratchet` precedent: measured 22, floor 15).
+ * Before it existed the same population was pinned at three different values
+ * across eight call sites, the tightest one entry under the measured count.
+ *
+ * Re-measure only when the corpus has shrunk to near it, and then move it to
+ * about two thirds of the new reading. ⛔ Never raise it to track growth.
+ */
+export const CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR = 288;
diff --git a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-gallery-render.test.tsx b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-gallery-render.test.tsx
index 5dbbda46d17..061bfd35f1c 100644
--- a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-gallery-render.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/catalog-gallery-render.test.tsx
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ import { SchemaRenderer, SchemaRendererContext, toRenderableSchema } from '@obje
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { allExamples } from '../src/index.js';
+import { CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR } from './catalog-entry-floor.js';
 
 /**
  * The repo root, derived from THIS FILE's own location — never from
@@ -646,7 +647,7 @@ describe('objectui#4616 — every catalog entry renders in the docs gallery', ()
    * size and the registration set the sweep depends on.
    */
   it('the corpus is populated and every package the census needs is loaded', () => {
-    expect(entries.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(423);
+    expect(entries.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR);
     // One type per package below, chosen as the one the census actually needed.
     for (const type of [
       'dashboard',
@@ -1345,7 +1346,9 @@ describe('objectui#6025 — the gallery DECLARES the packages its entries need',
     expect(
       PLUGIN_CATEGORIES.length,
       'no plugin categories were derived, so this case would be vacuous',
-    ).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(13);
+      // About two thirds of the 13 measured on objectstack 6a7c0fe3: retiring a
+      // plugin package (and its category) must not red an anti-vacuity floor.
+    ).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(9);
 
     const undeclared = PLUGIN_CATEGORIES.map((category) => `@object-ui/${category}`).filter(
       (pkg) => !HOST_PACKAGES.includes(pkg),
diff --git a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/component-fixture-declared-keys.test.ts b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/component-fixture-declared-keys.test.ts
index afd335f53a4..94d08b49b2a 100644
--- a/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/component-fixture-declared-keys.test.ts
+++ b/ui/examples/schema-catalog/test/component-fixture-declared-keys.test.ts
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ import {
 } from '@object-ui/types/zod';
 import { enumOptions } from '@object-ui/test-support';
 import { allExamples, getExample } from '../src/index.js';
+import { CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR } from './catalog-entry-floor.js';
 
 type Json = Record<string, unknown>;
 
@@ -280,7 +281,7 @@ describe('catalog corpus: no fixture hangs an action object off a handler key (o
     expect(handlers.map((h) => h.where)).toContain(
       'components-feedback-toaster/with-toast-trigger.children[0].onClick',
     );
-    expect(entries.length).toBeGreaterThan(400);
+    expect(entries.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR);
   });
 
   it('every handler value in the corpus is a string expression, never an action object', () => {
@@ -565,7 +566,7 @@ describe('catalog corpus: every menubar item uses the declared MenuItem spelling
       ]),
     );
     expect(items).toHaveLength(13);
-    expect(allExamples().length).toBeGreaterThan(400);
+    expect(allExamples().length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR);
   });
 
   it('the walker descends into submenu `children` — synthetic positive control', () => {
@@ -773,7 +774,7 @@ describe('catalog corpus: no overlay-menu item authors the undeclared `value` ke
     // below. 25 items = menubar 13 + basic-context-menu 5 + basic-dropdown-menu
     // 4 + with-icons 3.
     expect(items).toHaveLength(25);
-    expect(allExamples().length).toBeGreaterThan(400);
+    expect(allExamples().length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR);
 
     // One representative position per container shape, including the deeper
     // `menus[].items[]` nesting only `menubar` has.
@@ -935,11 +936,12 @@ describe('catalog corpus: no `select` option authors the undeclared `type` key (
 
   it('the sweep reaches every select option in the corpus — non-vacuity', () => {
     // Floors, not equalities: catalog growth must not fail this file, only a
-    // walker that stopped working. 66 options on 19 select nodes across 7
-    // categories at `b6e83be6a`.
-    expect(options.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(66);
-    expect(new Set(options.map((o) => o.where.split('/')[0])).size).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(7);
-    expect(allExamples().length).toBeGreaterThan(400);
+    // walker that stopped working. About two thirds of the 66 options across 7
+    // categories measured on objectstack 6a7c0fe3, so deleting an entry does
+    // not fail it either.
+    expect(options.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(44);
+    expect(new Set(options.map((o) => o.where.split('/')[0])).size).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(5);
+    expect(allExamples().length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(CATALOG_ENTRY_FLOOR);
 
     // One representative position per authoring shape, including the two
     // nesting depths a shallow walker would silently miss: a select inside a
diff --git a/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-dist-completeness.test.ts b/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-dist-completeness.test.ts
index 9b533c9e6a7..3a50724a399 100644
--- a/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-dist-completeness.test.ts
+++ b/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-dist-completeness.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import { uiTurboConfigPath } from '../workspace-root.mjs';
+import { UI_TSC_BUILT_PACKAGE_FLOOR } from './helpers/ui-package-population.mjs';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import os from 'node:os';
 import path from 'node:path';
@@ -269,7 +270,9 @@ describe('this repository', () => {
   const tscPackages = discoverTscPackages(repoRoot) as Array<{ name: string; dir: string }>;
 
   it('finds the tsc-built packages', () => {
-    expect(tscPackages.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(11);
+    // A floor against an empty walk, not a census: about two thirds of the 11
+    // measured on objectstack 6a7c0fe3, so retiring a package leaves it green.
+    expect(tscPackages.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_TSC_BUILT_PACKAGE_FLOOR);
   });
 
   it.each(tscPackages.map((p) => [p.name, p.dir] as const))(
diff --git a/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-doc-links.test.ts b/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-doc-links.test.ts
index 98061a4e1cf..32efc809c6e 100644
--- a/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-doc-links.test.ts
+++ b/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-doc-links.test.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import {
   stripCode,
 } from '../check-doc-links.mjs';
 import { GithubSlugger as VendoredSlugger, slug as vendoredSlug } from '../github-slug.mjs';
+import { UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR } from './helpers/ui-package-population.mjs';
 
 /**
  * objectui#3479 — the behaviour test for `scripts/check-doc-links.mjs`.
@@ -514,16 +515,18 @@ describe('the repo it guards', () => {
     expect(scanned['README.md']).toBe(1);
     expect(scanned['CONTRIBUTING.md']).toBe(1);
     expect(scanned['ROADMAP.md']).toBe(1);
-    // Three READMEs since the two host-console examples were deleted (#25922):
-    // the index, hello-world and schema-catalog.
-    expect(scanned['examples']).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(3);
+    // A floor against an empty scan, not a census: three READMEs today (the
+    // index, hello-world and schema-catalog, measured on objectstack 6a7c0fe3),
+    // so deleting one example leaves it green.
+    expect(scanned['examples']).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
     expect(scanned['docs']).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(15);
     expect(scanned['content/docs']).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(100);
-    // objectui#3622. 38 of the 39 package directories carry a README today
-    // (`sdui-parser` does not), and this row is the only one whose path needs
-    // expanding before anything is opened — so a floor here is also the floor
-    // under `expandWildcard()`.
-    expect(scanned['packages/*/README.md']).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(35);
+    // objectui#3622. This row is the only one whose path needs expanding before
+    // anything is opened, so a floor here is also the floor under
+    // `expandWildcard()`. Every published package carries a README, so the
+    // shared published-package floor bounds it (39 READMEs measured on
+    // objectstack 6a7c0fe3); deleting a package moves no floor.
+    expect(scanned['packages/*/README.md']).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR);
     // objectui#4148. Both apps carry one today; the floor is 2 rather than the
     // exact count because this row exists precisely so the NEXT app is scanned
     // without anyone editing the table.
diff --git a/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-node-esm-load.test.ts b/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-node-esm-load.test.ts
index e8bb5f4306e..f7741fbf9c2 100644
--- a/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-node-esm-load.test.ts
+++ b/ui/scripts/__tests__/check-node-esm-load.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import fs from 'node:fs';
 import os from 'node:os';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR } from './helpers/ui-package-population.mjs';
 
 import {
   ESM_MODULE_EDGE,
@@ -448,7 +449,10 @@ describe('the load leg evaluates rather than resolves', () => {
 
 describe('the gate cannot be green about nothing', () => {
   it('keeps a floor under both legs', () => {
-    expect(MIN_PACKAGES).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(30);
+    // The package floor is the shared ui published-package floor, not a number of
+    // its own: re-measuring the population moves it in one place for every reader.
+    expect(MIN_PACKAGES).toBe(UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR);
+    expect(MIN_PACKAGES).toBeGreaterThan(0);
     expect(MIN_LOADED).toBeGreaterThan(0);
   });
 
diff --git a/ui/scripts/__tests__/helpers/ui-package-population.mjs b/ui/scripts/__tests__/helpers/ui-package-population.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a447153499c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/scripts/__tests__/helpers/ui-package-population.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * ui-package-population -- the ONE place the size of the ui package population
+ * is written down, as anti-vacuity floors.
+ *
+ *   import { UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR } from './helpers/ui-package-population.mjs';
+ *   expect(published.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR);
+ *
+ * A floor here answers one question: "did the scan find a population at all,
+ * or did a lost workspace root, a broken glob or a renamed manifest field leave
+ * it reading nothing?" It is NOT a census. A census pinned at today's measured
+ * value goes red on every legitimate package deletion, and one deletion then
+ * edits a floor in every file that spelled the count (objectstack#26444 counted
+ * five for a single retirement). So each floor sits at about two thirds of the
+ * value measured below -- the `vite-dts-wiring-ratchet` precedent: measured 22,
+ * floor 15 -- and is written once, here, for every reader:
+ *
+ *   - `scripts/check-node-esm-load.mjs` and `scripts/check-published-dist-tooling.mjs`
+ *     (`MIN_PACKAGES`, the gates' own refusal to judge a collapsed scan);
+ *   - `package-files-exist`, `side-effects-declaration-consistency`,
+ *     `check-dist-completeness`, `zero-test-member-exclusion-9106`,
+ *     `check-doc-links` and `quick-reference-commands-4149` under `scripts/__tests__/`.
+ *
+ * It is an `.mjs` module, not a `.ts` helper like its neighbours, because the two
+ * gate scripts above import it at run time under plain `node`.
+ *
+ * Re-measuring: a floor moves only when its population has shrunk to near it,
+ * and then to about two thirds of the new measurement, with the measurement and
+ * its commit recorded in the table below. ⛔ Never raise a floor to track growth:
+ * growth is routine and the floor's job is only to refuse an empty scan.
+ *
+ * Measured on objectstack `origin/main` `6a7c0fe3` (2026-10-27, right after
+ * `@object-ui/app-shell` became private):
+ *
+ *   population                                   measured   floor   margin
+ *   published packages (release group)                 36      24       12
+ *   workspace members (packages/*, apps/*, examples/*)  43      28       15
+ *   `sideEffects: false` declarers                     11       7        4
+ *   `sideEffects` array declarers                      17      11        6
+ *   tsc-built packages                                 11       7        4
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Packages that publish to npm: not `private: true`, in the changesets release
+ * group. Readers whose population is a superset of these (packages declaring
+ * `files` or `exports`, package directories carrying a README) read this floor
+ * too: if the published set is there, so is theirs.
+ */
+export const UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR = 24;
+
+/** Every manifest under the three workspace globs, private ones included. */
+export const UI_WORKSPACE_MEMBER_FLOOR = 28;
+
+/** Packages declaring `"sideEffects": false`. */
+export const UI_SIDE_EFFECTS_FALSE_FLOOR = 7;
+
+/** Packages declaring `sideEffects` as an array of paths. */
+export const UI_SIDE_EFFECTS_ARRAY_FLOOR = 11;
+
+/** Packages whose build runs `tsc` (the `check-dist-completeness` population). */
+export const UI_TSC_BUILT_PACKAGE_FLOOR = 7;
diff --git a/ui/scripts/__tests__/package-files-exist.test.ts b/ui/scripts/__tests__/package-files-exist.test.ts
index 76ca33bae89..e70e46afd78 100644
--- a/ui/scripts/__tests__/package-files-exist.test.ts
+++ b/ui/scripts/__tests__/package-files-exist.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import { workspaceGlobs as readWorkspaceGlobs } from '../workspace-root.mjs';
+import { UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR } from './helpers/ui-package-population.mjs';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
@@ -229,12 +230,15 @@ const missing = declared.filter((d) => !d.onDisk && !isDeclaredBuildOutput(d));
 describe('package.json `files` entries exist on disk (objectui#3663)', () => {
   it('discovers the workspace (guard cannot pass by finding nothing)', () => {
     // npm's silence is the whole hazard here, so a guard that inspects an empty
-    // list would reproduce it exactly: green output, nothing checked. These
-    // floors sit just under the measured values on main@dae1ac41e (40 packages
-    // declaring `files`, 159 entries) so that losing a workspace root, a broken
-    // glob parser or a moved directory is a failure and not a quiet pass.
-    expect(packagesWithFiles.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(38);
-    expect(declared.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(150);
+    // list would reproduce it exactly: green output, nothing checked. Losing a
+    // workspace root, a broken glob parser or a moved directory must be a
+    // failure and not a quiet pass. Every published package declares `files`,
+    // so the shared published-package floor bounds this population too (39
+    // measured on objectstack 6a7c0fe3). The entry floor is about two thirds of
+    // the 153 entries measured there: a floor against an empty scan, not a
+    // census, so deleting a package leaves both green.
+    expect(packagesWithFiles.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR);
+    expect(declared.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(100);
 
     // The specimen package must be in scope by name: if plugin-tree ever drops
     // out of the scan, the guard has stopped watching the exact spot that
@@ -439,15 +443,12 @@ const KNOWN_LICENSE_TEXT_MISSING: Record<string, { issue: string }> = {};
 
 describe('published packages that declare a license ship its text (objectui#3696)', () => {
   it('discovers the packages that owe license text (guard cannot pass by finding nothing)', () => {
-    // Same anti-vacuity floor as the guard above, sitting just under the 39
-    // measured on main@3e601773e. A predicate that quietly matches nothing —
-    // a renamed `license` field, a lost workspace root, a `private` default
-    // flipped — would otherwise report success over an empty set. Lowered by
-    // one when `@object-ui/sdui-parser` was retired for the root
-    // `@objectstack/sdui-parser` (objectstack#25712 item 3): 37 measured then.
-    // Lowered by one again when `@object-ui/app-shell` went private
-    // (objectstack#25922): 36 measured then.
-    expect(owingPackages.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(36);
+    // Same anti-vacuity floor as the guard above: the shared published-package
+    // floor (36 owing measured on objectstack 6a7c0fe3). A predicate that
+    // quietly matches nothing — a renamed `license` field, a lost workspace
+    // root, a `private` default flipped — would otherwise report success over
+    // an empty set. Retiring or unpublishing a package moves no floor here.
+    expect(owingPackages.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR);
 
     // The package objectui#3696 fixed must be in scope BY NAME. If it drops
     // out of the population, this guard has stopped watching the exact spot
@@ -805,13 +806,14 @@ const exportKey = (e: DeclaredExport): string => `${e.pkg.name}${e.subpath === '
 
 describe('every declared `exports` subpath resolves to a file that ships (objectui#4059)', () => {
   it('discovers the exports surface (guard cannot pass by finding nothing)', () => {
-    // Same anti-vacuity floor as the two guards above, sitting just under the
-    // values measured on main@59df371f7 (38 packages declaring `exports`, 140
-    // target strings). A broken flattener, a lost workspace root or a renamed
+    // Same anti-vacuity floors as the two guards above: the shared
+    // published-package floor (38 packages declaring `exports` measured on
+    // objectstack 6a7c0fe3) and about two thirds of the 150 target strings
+    // measured there. A broken flattener, a lost workspace root or a renamed
     // field would otherwise report success over an empty set — which is the
     // failure mode this whole file exists to prevent.
-    expect(packagesWithExports.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(36);
-    expect(declaredExports.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(130);
+    expect(packagesWithExports.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR);
+    expect(declaredExports.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(100);
 
     // The specimen and its control must be in scope BY NAME and BY SUBPATH. Both
     // declare the identical `"./style.css": "./dist/index.css"`; the only
diff --git a/ui/scripts/__tests__/quick-reference-commands-4149.test.ts b/ui/scripts/__tests__/quick-reference-commands-4149.test.ts
index 33dedfb7b85..060d282313c 100644
--- a/ui/scripts/__tests__/quick-reference-commands-4149.test.ts
+++ b/ui/scripts/__tests__/quick-reference-commands-4149.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import { workspaceGlobs as readWorkspaceGlobs } from '../workspace-root.mjs';
+import { UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR } from './helpers/ui-package-population.mjs';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
@@ -345,14 +346,16 @@ describe('QUICK_REFERENCE.md — every path it names is in the tree', () => {
   });
 });
 
-describe('QUICK_REFERENCE.md — the published-package count is derived', () => {
+describe('QUICK_REFERENCE.md — the published-package count is not written by hand', () => {
   /**
-   * The count kept a number rather than becoming a pointer, because unlike a churning
-   * enumeration it has an exact anchor (`private` in each manifest) and it tells the
-   * reader something a pointer cannot: the scale of the repo. What it may not do is be
-   * written by hand — "39 published packages" counted directories, and
-   * `packages/vscode-extension` (published to the VS Code marketplace, not to npm) is
-   * `private: true`. Off by one, in the direction that overstates.
+   * The row used to state the count ("39 published packages", later 36, then 35), and
+   * this test derived the true number to hold the prose to it. The first hand-written
+   * figure counted directories and missed that `packages/vscode-extension` (published
+   * to the VS Code marketplace, not to npm) is `private: true` — off by one, in the
+   * direction that overstates. Holding it exact then cost a doc edit on every package
+   * retirement, for a number the manifests already answer (`private` in each one). So
+   * the row names the published packages without counting them, and this test keeps it
+   * that way; the private packages it must still name are checked below.
    */
   const packagesRow = (): string => {
     const layout = section('## Repository Layout');
@@ -365,30 +368,37 @@ describe('QUICK_REFERENCE.md — the published-package count is derived', () =>
   const published = inPackages.filter((p) => !p.private);
   const privateOnes = inPackages.filter((p) => p.private);
 
-  it('states the number of packages that are actually published', () => {
+  it('names the published packages without a hand-written count', () => {
+    // Anti-vacuity: a workspace read that found nothing would make the refusal below
+    // pass over an empty population.
+    expect(published.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR);
+    const row = packagesRow();
     expect(
-      packagesRow(),
-      `${docRel} must state "${published.length} published packages" — that is how many manifests ` +
-        `under \`packages/\` are not \`private: true\` (${inPackages.length} directories, ` +
-        `${privateOnes.length} of them private: ${JSON.stringify(privateOnes.map((p) => p.dir))})`,
-    ).toContain(`${published.length} published`);
+      row,
+      `${docRel}'s \`packages/*\` row spells a package count. Drop the number: ${published.length} of ` +
+        `the ${inPackages.length} manifests under \`packages/\` are not \`private: true\` today, and a ` +
+        'written figure goes stale on the next retirement.',
+    ).not.toMatch(/\b\d+\s+(?:published|packages)\b/i);
+    expect(row, `${docRel}'s \`packages/*\` row must still say these are the published packages`).toMatch(
+      /published/i,
+    );
   });
 
   it('accounts for the private packages instead of quietly dropping them', () => {
     if (privateOnes.length === 0) {
-      // Nothing to reconcile: the count and the directory listing agree, so the row
-      // saying only "N published packages" is complete. This branch exists so the
-      // requirement below retires itself the day the last private package leaves.
+      // Nothing to reconcile: every directory publishes, so the row saying only "the
+      // published packages" is complete. This branch exists so the requirement below
+      // retires itself the day the last private package leaves.
       return;
     }
 
     const row = packagesRow();
     expect(
       row,
-      `${docRel}'s \`packages/*\` row states a published count that is smaller than the ` +
-        `${inPackages.length} directories a reader sees there. It must say why — name the private ` +
-        `package(s) ${JSON.stringify(privateOnes.map((p) => p.name))} — or the next reader "corrects" ` +
-        'the number back to the directory count, which is exactly how objectui#4149 happened.',
+      `${docRel}'s \`packages/*\` row calls the packages published, but ${privateOnes.length} of the ` +
+        `${inPackages.length} directories a reader sees there are not. It must say why — name the private ` +
+        `package(s) ${JSON.stringify(privateOnes.map((p) => p.name))} — or the next reader writes ` +
+        'the directory count back in as the published count, which is exactly how objectui#4149 happened.',
     ).toMatch(/private/i);
 
     for (const pkg of privateOnes) {
diff --git a/ui/scripts/__tests__/side-effects-declaration-consistency.test.ts b/ui/scripts/__tests__/side-effects-declaration-consistency.test.ts
index 02ca9845998..79a339c257b 100644
--- a/ui/scripts/__tests__/side-effects-declaration-consistency.test.ts
+++ b/ui/scripts/__tests__/side-effects-declaration-consistency.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { workspaceGlobs as readWorkspaceGlobs } from '../workspace-root.mjs';
 // The shared registration reader (objectui#4894). Types are INFERRED from the
 // .mjs source by `tsconfig.scripts.json` (`allowJs`), so no `@ts-expect-error`.
 import { readComponentRegistrations } from '../component-registrations.mjs';
+import { UI_SIDE_EFFECTS_ARRAY_FLOOR, UI_SIDE_EFFECTS_FALSE_FLOOR } from './helpers/ui-package-population.mjs';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
@@ -1071,16 +1072,15 @@ const falseBarrelProbes: ProbeCase[] = falsePackages.flatMap((pkg) => {
 describe('`sideEffects` declarations match load-time behaviour (objectui#3943)', () => {
   it('discovers the declaring packages (guard cannot pass by finding nothing)', () => {
     // The hazard here is a SILENT one, so a guard that inspected an empty list
-    // would reproduce it exactly: green output, nothing checked. These floors
-    // sit at the census re-measured for objectui#13464, when every published
-    // package came to declare the field: 12 `false` and 17 arrays, the rest
-    // `true` — so a lost workspace root, a broken glob parser or a renamed
-    // field is a failure and not a quiet pass. One fewer since
-    // `@object-ui/sdui-parser` (a `false`) was retired for the root
-    // `@objectstack/sdui-parser` (objectstack#25712 item 3): 28, 11 of them `false`.
-    expect(declaringPackages.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(28);
-    expect(falsePackages.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(11);
-    expect(arrayPackages.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(17);
+    // would reproduce it exactly: green output, nothing checked. So a lost
+    // workspace root, a broken glob parser or a renamed field must be a failure
+    // and not a quiet pass. The floors are the shared ones, about two thirds of
+    // the census measured on objectstack 6a7c0fe3 (11 `false`, 17 arrays, 28
+    // declaring), so retiring a package moves none of them; the declaring floor
+    // is their sum, since the declarers are exactly those two groups.
+    expect(declaringPackages.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_SIDE_EFFECTS_FALSE_FLOOR + UI_SIDE_EFFECTS_ARRAY_FLOOR);
+    expect(falsePackages.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_SIDE_EFFECTS_FALSE_FLOOR);
+    expect(arrayPackages.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_SIDE_EFFECTS_ARRAY_FLOOR);
 
     // The census by name. `true` packages (`components`, `fields`, four
     // plugins and the executables) are excluded on purpose: `true` is the conservative claim and can never lose a
diff --git a/ui/scripts/__tests__/zero-test-member-exclusion-9106.test.ts b/ui/scripts/__tests__/zero-test-member-exclusion-9106.test.ts
index 862c39ba63d..14e4a062ca5 100644
--- a/ui/scripts/__tests__/zero-test-member-exclusion-9106.test.ts
+++ b/ui/scripts/__tests__/zero-test-member-exclusion-9106.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import { workspaceGlobs } from '../workspace-root.mjs';
+import { UI_WORKSPACE_MEMBER_FLOOR } from './helpers/ui-package-population.mjs';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
@@ -200,21 +201,22 @@ describe('objectui#9106 — the derivation itself can fail', () => {
   });
 
   it('finds the whole workspace, not a slice of it', () => {
-    // Measured on 1e0e46af9: 46 manifests under the three globbed groups.
-    // A floor, not an equality — new packages are routine — but a floor low
-    // enough to be honest and high enough that a half-broken enumeration fails.
-    expect(members.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(40);
+    // A floor, not an equality — packages come and go routinely — but high
+    // enough that a collapsed enumeration fails: the shared workspace-member
+    // floor, about two thirds of the 43 manifests under the three globbed
+    // groups measured on objectstack 6a7c0fe3.
+    expect(members.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_WORKSPACE_MEMBER_FLOOR);
     expect(members.map((m) => m.dir)).toContain('packages/layout');
     expect(members.map((m) => m.dir)).toContain('apps/console');
   });
 
   it('can see test files where test files are', () => {
     // The negative control for `collectTestFiles`: a collector that returned []
-    // for everything would put all 46 members in the excluded bucket and this
+    // for everything would put every member in the excluded bucket and this
     // file would then be asserting nothing at all.
     const layout = members.find((m) => m.dir === 'packages/layout');
     expect(layout?.testFileCount).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-    expect(withScriptAndFiles.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(40);
+    expect(withScriptAndFiles.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(UI_WORKSPACE_MEMBER_FLOOR);
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/ui/scripts/check-node-esm-load.mjs b/ui/scripts/check-node-esm-load.mjs
index 62518cad354..8db6f1f1db6 100644
--- a/ui/scripts/check-node-esm-load.mjs
+++ b/ui/scripts/check-node-esm-load.mjs
@@ -150,17 +150,20 @@ import ts from 'typescript';
 
 import { SKIP_DIRS, TOOLING_FILE, discoverPackages, moduleSpecifiers } from './check-phantom-dependencies.mjs';
 import { isEntrypoint } from './invoked-as.mjs';
+import { UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR } from './__tests__/helpers/ui-package-population.mjs';
 
 const scriptDir = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 
 /**
  * Below this many published packages the scan is broken, not empty.
  *
- * The `fixed` group holds 40 entries today. A collapse to a handful means the
- * release config or the manifest walk stopped answering, and every assertion
- * below would pass while reading nothing.
+ * A collapse to a handful means the release config or the manifest walk stopped
+ * answering, and every assertion below would pass while reading nothing. The
+ * number is the shared ui published-package floor, written once with its
+ * measurement in `__tests__/helpers/ui-package-population.mjs`, so deleting a
+ * package never edits this file.
  */
-export const MIN_PACKAGES = 30;
+export const MIN_PACKAGES = UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR;
 
 /**
  * Below this many SUCCESSFUL imports the load leg proved nothing.
diff --git a/ui/scripts/check-published-dist-tooling.mjs b/ui/scripts/check-published-dist-tooling.mjs
index 48ea5d546a8..f2d3eb9e236 100644
--- a/ui/scripts/check-published-dist-tooling.mjs
+++ b/ui/scripts/check-published-dist-tooling.mjs
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 
 import { PACKAGE_ROOTS, TOOLING_FILE, readReleaseGroup } from './check-phantom-dependencies.mjs';
 import { isEntrypoint } from './invoked-as.mjs';
+import { UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR } from './__tests__/helpers/ui-package-population.mjs';
 
 const scriptDir = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 
@@ -151,11 +152,13 @@ export const BUILD_OUTPUT_DIRS = ['dist', 'build', '.next'];
 /**
  * Below this many published packages the scan is broken, not empty.
  *
- * The `fixed` group holds 40 entries today, one of them private. A collapse to
- * a handful means the release config, the manifest walk or `npm pack` stopped
- * answering, and every assertion below would pass while reading nothing.
+ * A collapse to a handful means the release config, the manifest walk or
+ * `npm pack` stopped answering, and every assertion below would pass while
+ * reading nothing. The number is the shared ui published-package floor, written
+ * once with its measurement in `__tests__/helpers/ui-package-population.mjs`, so
+ * deleting a package never edits this file.
  */
-export const MIN_PACKAGES = 30;
+export const MIN_PACKAGES = UI_PUBLISHED_PACKAGE_FLOOR;
 
 // ── the tooling convention, derived rather than re-spelled ───────────────────