diff --git a/lib/forge-forgejo.sh b/lib/forge-forgejo.sh
index 1756943..0000e33 100644
--- a/lib/forge-forgejo.sh
+++ b/lib/forge-forgejo.sh
@@ -118,11 +118,36 @@ forge_api() {
     fi
     forgejo_http_ok "$hdr" "$endpoint" || return 1
 
+    # Re-read on EVERY page, not once (#4712). A board that changes size
+    # under the walk was invisible: page 1 declaring 4 and page 2 declaring
+    # 9 stopped at 4 believing itself whole. A moving total means the read
+    # cannot have been atomic, so it is refused rather than reconciled.
+    local page_total
+    page_total="$(forgejo_total_count "$hdr")" || return 1
     if [ -z "$total" ]; then
-      total="$(forgejo_total_count "$hdr")" || return 1
+      total="$page_total"
+    elif [ "$page_total" != "$total" ]; then
+      cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_api: the declared total for '$endpoint' changed between pages — $total then $page_total (#188).
+  The collection moved under the walk, so no page set can be proven whole.
+  Refusing rather than reconciling a board that is already out of date.
+EOF
+      return 1
     fi
+
     pagejson="$(cat "$body")"
-    n="$(jq 'if type == "array" then length else 0 end' <<<"$pagejson")"
+    # A 200 whose body is not a collection counted as zero items (#4712),
+    # so an error object or a scalar arriving where a list belongs read as
+    # a complete EMPTY collection whenever the declared total was 0.
+    if [ "$(jq -r 'type' <<<"$pagejson" 2>/dev/null)" != array ]; then
+      cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_api: '$endpoint' did not return a collection (#188).
+  Expected a JSON array; got: $(head -c 200 <<<"$pagejson")
+  Refusing: a body this shim cannot count must not be counted as empty.
+EOF
+      return 1
+    fi
+    n="$(jq 'length' <<<"$pagejson")"
     [ "$n" -gt 0 ] || break
     all="$(jq -s '.[0] + .[1]' <<<"$all"$'\n'"$pagejson")"
     got=$((got + n))
@@ -158,6 +183,19 @@ forge_api: this forge did not send x-total-count — cannot prove the gather is
 EOF
     return 1
   fi
+  # Validate before it reaches arithmetic (#4712). `X-Total-Count:
+  # not-a-number` used to sail through and become the bound the walk was
+  # compared against — a guard whose own input was never checked.
+  case "$total" in
+    '' | *[!0-9]*)
+      cat >&2 <<EOF
+forge_api: x-total-count is not a non-negative integer: '$total' (#188).
+  Refusing: the completeness bound must be a number, or the assert that
+  uses it proves nothing.
+EOF
+      return 1
+      ;;
+  esac
   printf '%s\n' "$total"
 }
 
diff --git a/test/forge-backends.test.sh b/test/forge-backends.test.sh
index b7a9bf9..b931563 100644
--- a/test/forge-backends.test.sh
+++ b/test/forge-backends.test.sh
@@ -72,9 +72,12 @@ check "stripping the only parameter leaves a clean query" 0 "" \
 # curl is stubbed as a function so these are hermetic. Each case writes the
 # headers and body a real Forgejo would.
 
-# fake_forge <total> <pages…> — install a curl stub serving <pages> as
-# successive page bodies, declaring <total> in x-total-count. An empty
-# string for <total> omits the header entirely (@kimi's #4699 case).
+# fake_forge <total-spec> <pages…> — install a curl stub serving <pages> as
+# successive page bodies, declaring <total-spec> in x-total-count. An empty
+# string omits the header entirely (@kimi's #4699 case). A comma-separated
+# spec declares a DIFFERENT total per page ("4,9"), which is
+# @codex-reviewer-andresmgsl's changing-between-pages case (#4700 / #4712):
+# a server whose count moves under the walk cannot have been read whole.
 fake_forge() {
   FAKE_TOTAL="$1"; shift
   FAKE_PAGES=("$@")
@@ -94,9 +97,16 @@ fake_forge() {
     done
     local page=1
     case "$url" in *page=*) page="${url##*page=}"; page="${page%%&*}" ;; esac
+    local total="$FAKE_TOTAL"
+    case "$FAKE_TOTAL" in
+      *,*)
+        total="$(printf '%s' "$FAKE_TOTAL" | cut -d, -f"$page")"
+        [ -n "$total" ] || total="$(printf '%s' "$FAKE_TOTAL" | cut -d, -f1)"
+        ;;
+    esac
     {
       printf 'HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\n'
-      [ -n "$FAKE_TOTAL" ] && printf 'X-Total-Count: %s\r\n' "$FAKE_TOTAL"
+      [ -n "$total" ] && printf 'X-Total-Count: %s\r\n' "$total"
       printf '\r\n'
     } >"$hdr"
     if [ "$page" -le "${#FAKE_PAGES[@]}" ]; then
@@ -141,6 +151,51 @@ check "a missing x-total-count refuses" 1 "did not send x-total-count" \
 check "...and says why it cannot prove completeness" 1 "cannot prove the gather is complete" \
   forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
 
+# @codex-reviewer-andresmgsl's #4712 findings. Each one is a route by which
+# an unprovable read could still have been reported as a whole one — the
+# guard leaking the failure class it was built to stop, which is why they
+# are refusals rather than warnings.
+
+# A total that is not a number went straight into arithmetic. Reproduced on
+# ab23a3b: `X-Total-Count: not-a-number` returned rc=0 with that string as
+# the total.
+fake_forge 'not-a-number' '[{"number":1}]'
+check "a non-numeric total is refused" 1 "not a non-negative integer" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+check "...and the refusal quotes what arrived" 1 "not-a-number" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+fake_forge '12x' '[{"number":1}]'
+check "a partly-numeric total is refused" 1 "not a non-negative integer" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+fake_forge '-3' '[{"number":1}]'
+check "a negative total is refused" 1 "not a non-negative integer" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+
+# A total that MOVES under the walk. The loop read it once, so a board
+# changing size mid-gather was invisible: page 1 said 4, page 2 said 9, and
+# the walk stopped at 4 believing itself complete.
+fake_forge '4,9' '[{"number":1},{"number":2}]' '[{"number":3},{"number":4}]'
+check "a total that changes between pages is refused" 1 "changed between pages" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+check "...and the refusal names both totals" 1 "4" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+
+# A 200 whose body is not a collection. `length` on a non-array counted 0,
+# so an object or a scalar arriving where a list belongs read as a complete
+# EMPTY collection when the declared total was 0 — silence dressed as a
+# clean sweep.
+fake_forge 0 '{"message":"Not found"}'
+check "a non-array body is refused" 1 "did not return a collection" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+fake_forge 0 '"a string"'
+check "a scalar body is refused" 1 "did not return a collection" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+# A genuinely empty collection is still fine — the refusal must not fire on
+# a repo that legitimately has nothing.
+fake_forge 0 '[]'
+check "an empty collection is not an error" 0 "" \
+  forge_api --paginate 'repos/o/r/issues' --jq '.[].number'
+
 # --- HTTP failures are named, not swallowed -----------------------------
 # gh exits non-zero on an HTTP error; curl does not without -f, and -f
 # discards the body that explains why. So the status is read explicitly.