diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4ada41f..823fb99 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -250,7 +250,9 @@ step, so a resumed execution evaluates them with no call to
 `Statifier.MachineState.put_function_providers/2` of its own. A durable
 subchart child the driver creates does not inherit the list. A list that
 does not resolve is refused with `{:error, {:function_providers, reason}}`
-before any lock, load or write.
+before any lock, load or write; `start_child_at/6`, the fan-out door,
+refuses it in its own shape, `{:refused, {:function_providers, reason}}`,
+before any child is created.
 
 One call is one durable step, every effect through your `effects:`
 executor, every `<invoke>` through your `dispatch:` fun inside that same
diff --git a/changelog.d/sp-8ktk.md b/changelog.d/sp-8ktk.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ad258d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/sp-8ktk.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+### Added
+
+- When a driver's `function_providers:` list does not resolve, `StatifierPersistence.Driver.start_child_at/6` refuses with `{:refused, {:function_providers, reason}}`, its existing refusal shape, before any child is created or anything is written; a driver with a list that resolves, or with none, starts children as before.
diff --git a/docs/adr/0004-run-lifecycle-executor-seam-and-serialization.md b/docs/adr/0004-run-lifecycle-executor-seam-and-serialization.md
index b6b23ee..148d1c5 100644
--- a/docs/adr/0004-run-lifecycle-executor-seam-and-serialization.md
+++ b/docs/adr/0004-run-lifecycle-executor-seam-and-serialization.md
@@ -1199,6 +1199,21 @@ check runs first.
 | `Driver.send_event/4` | the call's own, else the driver's | `Executions.step/5` |
 | `Driver.done_invocation/5`, `Driver.failed_invocation/5` | the call's own, else the driver's | `Executions.step/5` |
 | `Driver.answer_parent/3` | the driver's | the read of the child's linkage, and the write of the child's answer on its own record |
+| `Driver.start_child_at/6` (added 2026-10-13, sp-8ktk) | the driver's | the read of the parent's record, the child's create and every write |
+
+Dated edit (2026-10-13, sp-8ktk): `Driver.start_child_at/6`, the door a
+scheduler starts a fan-out child through, joins the table above. It
+answers in its own existing shape, `{:refused, {:function_providers,
+reason}}` with the same `reason`, not `{:error, _}`; no new return arm
+is added (`start_child_at/6` in `StatifierPersistence.Driver`). Without
+it, a driver whose list does not resolve could create and drive a
+child whose automatic answer the parent's `answer_parent/3` then
+refused, and that refusal is discarded on the automatic path, so the
+invocation never settled. Ruled by the operator, 2026-10-13. The
+refusal emits no `[:statifier_persistence, :child, :refused]`, as the
+door's `:execution_not_found` emits none. Pinned in
+`test/statifier_persistence/function_providers_test.exs`, "a list that
+does not resolve is refused before any child is created or written".
 
 **Where the option reaches.** `step/5` takes it per call. `create/4`
 takes it inside `initialize:`, the only way a create reaches the core,
diff --git a/lib/statifier_persistence/driver.ex b/lib/statifier_persistence/driver.ex
index d42c5e6..314f7aa 100644
--- a/lib/statifier_persistence/driver.ex
+++ b/lib/statifier_persistence/driver.ex
@@ -406,7 +406,9 @@ defmodule StatifierPersistence.Driver do
     is refused by `create/3`, `send_event/4`, `done_invocation/5`,
     `failed_invocation/5` and `answer_parent/3` with `{:error,
     {:function_providers, reason}}` before any lock, load or write
-    (`t:StatifierPersistence.Executions.error/0`).
+    (`t:StatifierPersistence.Executions.error/0`), and by
+    `start_child_at/6` with `{:refused, {:function_providers, reason}}`,
+    that door's own shape, before any child is created.
   - `serialization:` - the `{module, config}` per-execution strategy every entry
     point runs inside (ADR-0004 decision 5). Defaults to whatever
     `StatifierPersistence.Executions` defaults to, the adapter's own
@@ -882,6 +884,18 @@ defmodule StatifierPersistence.Driver do
   status projection refuses `:execution_states_unsupported`. All three are the
   same principle: a child whose invocation could never be settled is not
   started. A `parent_execution_id` naming no stored execution refuses `:execution_not_found`.
+
+  A driver whose `function_providers:` list does not resolve refuses
+  `{:function_providers, reason}` (`reason` a
+  `t:StatifierPersistence.Executions.function_providers_reason/0`), the
+  same reason the driver's other doors answer inside `{:error, _}`. It
+  is checked first, before the parent's record is read, any child is
+  created or anything is written, so a child whose automatic answer the
+  parent's door would refuse is never started. Like
+  `:execution_not_found`, it emits no
+  `[:statifier_persistence, :child, :refused]`: that event's `reason` is
+  ADR-0008 decision 4's refusal set. The driver's list is the one read;
+  `opts` takes no `function_providers:`.
   """
   @spec start_child_at(
           driver :: t(),
@@ -890,7 +904,9 @@ defmodule StatifierPersistence.Driver do
           index :: non_neg_integer(),
           count :: pos_integer(),
           opts :: [policy: Linkage.policy()]
-        ) :: :ok | {:refused, term()}
+        ) ::
+          :ok
+          | {:refused, {:function_providers, Executions.function_providers_reason()} | term()}
   def start_child_at(
         %__MODULE__{} = driver,
         parent_execution_id,
@@ -904,12 +920,25 @@ defmodule StatifierPersistence.Driver do
     resolved = resolved_invoke(effect)
     policy = Keyword.get(opts, :policy, :all)
 
-    with {:ok, context} <- start_context(driver, parent_execution_id, resolved) do
+    with :ok <- check_start_providers(driver),
+         {:ok, context} <- start_context(driver, parent_execution_id, resolved) do
       result = settleable(driver, context, resolved, {index, count, policy})
       report_refusal(result, context)
     end
   end
 
+  # `check_function_providers/2` over the driver's own list, answered in
+  # this door's `{:refused, reason}` shape rather than `{:error, reason}`:
+  # the reason is the same term the other doors answer.
+  @spec check_start_providers(t()) ::
+          :ok | {:refused, {:function_providers, Executions.function_providers_reason()}}
+  defp check_start_providers(driver) do
+    case check_function_providers(driver, []) do
+      :ok -> :ok
+      {:error, reason} -> {:refused, reason}
+    end
+  end
+
   @spec resolved_invoke(Invoke.t() | {:start_child, Invoke.t(), {:invoke, Invoke.t()}}) ::
           Invoke.t()
   defp resolved_invoke(%Invoke{} = resolved), do: resolved
diff --git a/test/statifier_persistence/function_providers_test.exs b/test/statifier_persistence/function_providers_test.exs
index e1e5af1..e269fc8 100644
--- a/test/statifier_persistence/function_providers_test.exs
+++ b/test/statifier_persistence/function_providers_test.exs
@@ -389,6 +389,93 @@ defmodule StatifierPersistence.FunctionProvidersTest do
     end
   end
 
+  describe "Driver.start_child_at/6" do
+    # sabotage: dropped `start_child_at/6`'s `check_start_providers/1` step
+    # -> red, the door answered `:ok` and created the child
+    test "a list that does not resolve is refused before any child is created or written", %{
+      store: store
+    } do
+      good = fan_out_driver(store)
+      assert {:ok, _execution, _ms} = Driver.create(good, "execution_1")
+      assert_received {:with_execution, "execution_1"}
+      {:ok, before} = Storage.fetch_execution(store, "execution_1")
+
+      bad = %{good | function_providers: [String]}
+
+      assert {:refused, {:function_providers, {:invalid_provider, String, message}}} =
+               Driver.start_child_at(bad, "execution_1", fan_out_effect(), 0, 2)
+
+      assert is_binary(message)
+
+      # Checked ahead of the parent's read: a missing parent answers the
+      # list's refusal, not `:execution_not_found`.
+      assert {:refused, {:function_providers, {:not_a_list, :nope}}} =
+               Driver.start_child_at(
+                 %{good | function_providers: :nope},
+                 "execution_missing",
+                 fan_out_effect(),
+                 0,
+                 2
+               )
+
+      refute_received {:with_execution, _execution_id}
+      assert {:ok, ^before} = Storage.fetch_execution(store, "execution_1")
+
+      for index <- 0..1 do
+        assert {:error, :execution_not_found} =
+                 Storage.fetch_execution(
+                   store,
+                   Linkage.child_execution_id("execution_1", "call", index)
+                 )
+      end
+    end
+
+    # sabotage: `check_start_providers/1` refused every list, as if none
+    # resolved -> red, the resolvable list answered
+    # `{:refused, {:function_providers, _}}`
+    test "a list that resolves starts the child as before", %{store: store} do
+      driver = fan_out_driver(store)
+      assert {:ok, _execution, _ms} = Driver.create(driver, "execution_1")
+
+      assert :ok = Driver.start_child_at(driver, "execution_1", fan_out_effect(), 0, 2)
+
+      assert {:ok, %{status: :active}} =
+               Storage.fetch_execution(
+                 store,
+                 Linkage.child_execution_id("execution_1", "call", 0)
+               )
+    end
+  end
+
+  # A fan-out parent: the dispatch leaves the invocation pending, so the
+  # children are started only through `start_child_at/6`.
+  defp fan_out_driver(store) do
+    {:ok, machine} = Statifier.compile(@parent_source, function_providers: @providers)
+
+    Driver.new(store, machine,
+      dispatch: fn "myapp:subchart", _params, _context -> :pending end,
+      invoke_types: InvokeTypes.new(types: ["myapp:subchart"]),
+      function_providers: @providers,
+      serialization: {SpyStrategy, self()}
+    )
+  end
+
+  defp fan_out_effect do
+    %Statifier.Effect.Invoke{
+      invoke_id: "call",
+      type: "myapp:subchart",
+      src: nil,
+      params: %{},
+      content: @child_source,
+      autoforward: nil,
+      state_index: 0,
+      invoke_index: 0,
+      macrostep: 0,
+      microstep: 0,
+      round: 0
+    }
+  end
+
   defp parent_driver(store, opts \\ []) do
     {:ok, machine} = Statifier.compile(@parent_source, function_providers: @providers)