diff --git a/.github/scripts/labels-reconcile.sh b/.github/scripts/labels-reconcile.sh
index 773ebd3..1cec82a 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/labels-reconcile.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/labels-reconcile.sh
@@ -31,7 +31,11 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 HUMAN="${HUMAN_REVIEWER:-danmt}"
 BOTS=(claude-bot-andresmgsl codex-bot-andresmgsl grok-bot-andresmgsl)
-STATES=(state:building state:needs-rebase state:bots-reviewing state:addressing state:needs-human)
+STATES=(state:building state:bots-reviewing state:addressing state:needs-human)
+BLOCKERS=(blocker:conflict blocker:ci-red blocker:unrequested)
+# Labels this machine used to own and no longer does. Cleared on sight so a
+# retirement heals the board instead of stranding a label nothing recomputes.
+RETIRED=(state:needs-rebase)
 STALE_AFTER=$((48 * 3600))
 
 log() { printf 'labels: %s\n' "$*"; }
@@ -52,7 +56,14 @@ run() { # every mutation goes through here — DRY_RUN=1 logs instead of doing
 
 requested() { grep -qxF "$1" <<<"$REQUESTED"; }
 
-checks_state() { # rollup JSON on stdin → SUCCESS | FAILURE | PENDING | NONE
+checks_state() { # rollup JSON on stdin → SUCCESS | FAILURE | PENDING | NONE | UNREADABLE
+  # UNREADABLE is the absence of the key itself, which is what a failed fetch
+  # leaves behind — distinct from a present-but-empty rollup, which honestly
+  # means this PR has no checks. Collapsing the two let an API hiccup present
+  # as "nothing is failing", i.e. as mergeable-by-a-human: the same
+  # unknown-certified-as-green shape as the bug this machine exists to stop.
+  # The caller skips the PR entirely rather than labelling on facts it did not
+  # read; blocking on it instead would flap the whole board on one bad call.
   # The rollup mixes two node types with two different closed enums: CheckRun
   # carries `conclusion` (CheckConclusionState), StatusContext carries `state`
   # (StatusState). Rather than list the outcomes that block — the version that
@@ -66,6 +77,8 @@ checks_state() { # rollup JSON on stdin → SUCCESS | FAILURE | PENDING | NONE
   # not in consequence: a false FAILURE parks the PR on the agent, who looks;
   # a false SUCCESS invites a human to merge a tree that will not merge.
   jq -r '
+    if (has("statusCheckRollup") | not) then "UNREADABLE" else
+
     # NEUTRAL and SKIPPED satisfy branch protection — a skipped required check
     # is not a failed one, and path-filtered jobs skip constantly here.
     ["SUCCESS", "NEUTRAL", "SKIPPED"] as $passing
@@ -117,7 +130,9 @@ checks_state() { # rollup JSON on stdin → SUCCESS | FAILURE | PENDING | NONE
     | if   ($latest | length) == 0                            then "NONE"
       elif (($latest - $passing - $waiting) | length) > 0     then "FAILURE"
       elif (($latest - $passing) | length) > 0                then "PENDING"
-      else "SUCCESS" end'
+      else "SUCCESS" end
+
+    end'
 }
 
 bot_verdict() { # $1 = login → MISSING | BLOCK | APPROVE | STALE | FEEDBACK
@@ -153,25 +168,66 @@ human_request_needed() { # 0 when needs-human requires a FRESH human request
   return 0
 }
 
+blockers() { # → the blocker:* labels this PR should carry, one per line
+  # The second axis. These are FACTS ABOUT THE BRANCH, and they are mutually
+  # independent — a PR can be conflicted and red and unasked at once — so they
+  # are a set, not an ordering. That is the whole point of splitting them out
+  # of state:*: every precedence bug this machine has had (needs-human
+  # surviving a conflict, MISSING swallowing STALE) came from projecting
+  # independent facts onto one totally-ordered label. A set has no precedence
+  # to get wrong.
+  #
+  # UNKNOWN mergeability is deliberately NOT a conflict: GitHub reports it for
+  # about a minute after every merge while it recomputes, and flapping every
+  # open PR on each merge would be worse than the bug. Same for a failed read
+  # of either fact — both default to the "do not know" value, which blocks
+  # nothing. An unset global (an older fixture, a failed fetch) must never
+  # invent a verdict it did not read.
+  case "${MERGEABLE:-UNKNOWN}" in CONFLICTING) echo blocker:conflict ;; esac
+  case "${CHECKS:-NONE}" in FAILURE) echo blocker:ci-red ;; esac
+
+  # Nobody is on the hook for a verdict somebody still owes. Distinct from
+  # bots-reviewing, which says a request is live and an answer is coming:
+  # here the round is stalled because no one was ever asked, and the board
+  # said "waiting on the bots" for the 48h it took `stale` to notice.
+  # A draft is exempt (the bots ignore drafts by design), and so is an
+  # explicit human request — a maintainer claiming a PR early is deliberate,
+  # not a dropped ball.
+  if [ "$DRAFT" != true ] && ! requested "$HUMAN"; then
+    local b v owed=false any_requested=false
+    for b in "${BOTS[@]}"; do
+      requested "$b" && any_requested=true
+      # MISSING and STALE are both verdicts this head does not have: nobody
+      # reviewed it, or everybody reviewed something else. The agent owes an
+      # ask either way — the stale round is if anything the worse of the two,
+      # since it has approvals on the page that no longer describe the tree.
+      v="$(bot_verdict "$b")"
+      case "$v" in MISSING | STALE) owed=true ;; esac
+    done
+    if [ "$owed" = true ] && [ "$any_requested" = false ]; then
+      echo blocker:unrequested
+    fi
+  fi
+}
+
 decide_state() { # → the one state:* label this PR should carry
   if [ "$DRAFT" = true ]; then echo state:building; return; fi
 
-  # state:needs-human means ONE thing: a human could merge this right now.
-  # Anything that makes that false outranks the request that put it there —
-  # otherwise the board invites a merge that cannot or must not happen, and
-  # nothing else on the page contradicts it (#136).
-  #
-  # A conflicted or red branch is the agent's to fix, not the human's to
-  # merge. UNKNOWN is deliberately NOT treated as unmergeable: GitHub reports
-  # it for a minute after every merge while it recomputes, and flapping every
-  # open PR through needs-rebase on each merge would be worse than the bug.
-  # An unknown mergeability simply does not trigger this arm; the next sweep
-  # sees the settled value.
-  # Both default to the "do not know" value: an unset global (older fixture,
-  # a failed fetch) must never invent a verdict it did not read.
-  case "${MERGEABLE:-UNKNOWN}" in CONFLICTING) echo state:needs-rebase; return ;; esac
-  case "${CHECKS:-NONE}" in FAILURE) echo state:needs-rebase; return ;; esac
+  local s
+  s="$(round_state)"
 
+  # The one rule joining the two axes: state:needs-human means a human could
+  # merge this RIGHT NOW, so it requires a clear branch. Any blocker at all
+  # means the work is the agent's — whatever the review round says — and the
+  # blocker label says which work it is. Nothing else in this function reads
+  # the branch, which is what keeps the ordering below purely about reviews.
+  if [ "$s" = state:needs-human ] && [ -n "$(blockers)" ]; then
+    echo state:addressing; return
+  fi
+  echo "$s"
+}
+
+round_state() { # → the state the REVIEW ROUND alone implies; knows no branch facts
   local b verdicts=""
   for b in "${BOTS[@]}"; do
     if requested "$b"; then echo state:bots-reviewing; return; fi
@@ -199,9 +255,16 @@ decide_state() { # → the one state:* label this PR should carry
     # No verdict at all from some bot, and nothing staled. An explicit human
     # request still outranks an unfinished round — a maintainer pulling a PR
     # to themselves early is a deliberate act, and the original precedence.
+    #
+    # Otherwise it is the AGENT's ball, not the bots'. The loop above already
+    # returned for every live bot request, so reaching here with a MISSING
+    # means somebody owes a verdict and nobody was asked for one — the round
+    # is not running. Calling that bots-reviewing was the lie that let a
+    # forgotten PR read "waiting on the reviewers" for the 48h it took the
+    # stale sweep to notice. blocker:unrequested says why.
     *MISSING*)
       if requested "$HUMAN"; then echo state:needs-human; return; fi
-      echo state:bots-reviewing; return ;;
+      echo state:addressing; return ;;
   esac
   # an explicit human request outranks the remaining bot outcomes — it is the
   # final gate, and a maintainer pulling a PR to themselves early counts too
@@ -233,8 +296,10 @@ bootstrap_labels() { # dispatch-only: ~20 upserts is too chatty for every cron t
 state:building|FBCA04|PR is a draft — the coding agent is still building
 state:bots-reviewing|1D76DB|Waiting on the bot reviewers to finish the round
 state:addressing|D93F0B|All bots reviewed — coding agent owes the single reply + fixes
-state:needs-rebase|B60205|Does not merge — conflicts or failing checks; the agent owes a fix
-state:needs-human|8250DF|Mergeable, green, all bots approve — waiting on the human reviewer
+state:needs-human|8250DF|No blockers, all bots approve — waiting on the human reviewer
+blocker:conflict|B60205|Does not merge — the branch conflicts and the agent owes a rebase
+blocker:ci-red|B60205|A check is failing — the agent owes a fix (not a rebase)
+blocker:unrequested|E99695|Somebody still owes a verdict and nobody was asked for one
 merge-next|0E8A16|Head of the merge queue — merge this one next (set by hand/agent, cleared here)
 stale|B60205|No activity for 48h — needs a poke (sweep-managed)
 blocked|6A737D|Waiting on another PR or issue to land first
@@ -267,17 +332,66 @@ reconcile_pr() { # $1 = PR number; relies on the globals set from its fetch
     log "#$n: requested $HUMAN (round passed)"
   fi
 
-  # ---- converge the state:* labels ----
+  # ---- converge both axes ----
+  # state:* is exclusive (everything but $desired comes off); blocker:* is a
+  # set (each one on or off on its own); RETIRED always comes off. One edit
+  # call for all of it, so a PR never flickers through a half-applied board.
+  local want_blockers add=""
+  want_blockers="$(blockers)"
+
   remove=""
   for s in "${STATES[@]}"; do
     if [ "$s" != "$desired" ] && has_label "$s"; then remove="$remove,$s"; fi
   done
+  for s in "${RETIRED[@]}"; do
+    if has_label "$s"; then remove="$remove,$s"; fi
+  done
+  for s in "${BLOCKERS[@]}"; do
+    if grep -qxF "$s" <<<"$want_blockers"; then
+      has_label "$s" || add="$add,$s"
+    else
+      has_label "$s" && remove="$remove,$s"
+    fi
+  done
+  add="${add#,}"
   remove="${remove#,}"
-  if ! has_label "$desired" || [ -n "$remove" ]; then
-    args=(--add-label "$desired")
+
+  # Never NAME a label the repo does not have. `gh issue edit --add-label`
+  # rejects the WHOLE call on one unknown name — nothing is applied — so a
+  # single missing blocker would take the state convergence down with it, on
+  # exactly the PRs this change exists to fix, surfacing only as a log line.
+  # Batching state and blockers into one edit for anti-flicker is what widened
+  # that blast radius; filtering the add side is what closes it again.
+  # Removals need no filter: they are built from has_label, so the label
+  # provably exists. REPO_LABELS unreadable means no filtering rather than
+  # filtering everything out — a failed read must not silently strip the board.
+  local skip_edit=false
+  if [ -n "${REPO_LABELS:-}" ]; then
+    local kept="" missing="" want
+    for want in ${add//,/ }; do
+      if grep -qxF "$want" <<<"$REPO_LABELS"; then kept="$kept,$want"
+      else missing="$missing $want"; fi
+    done
+    add="${kept#,}"
+    # A missing STATE label skips only the EDIT — never the rest of this
+    # function. Everything below is independent of the state:* taxonomy, and
+    # returning here stranded it: `merge-next` kept claiming "merge this one
+    # next" on a PR the board had moved to the agent, and the stale sweep
+    # stopped running. That is the original false-invitation bug, reintroduced
+    # in the very fix meant to survive a cold-start repo — and a regression
+    # against the old behaviour, which failed the edit and fell through.
+    if ! grep -qxF "$desired" <<<"$REPO_LABELS"; then
+      log "#$n: WARNING: state label '$desired' does not exist — skipping the label edit; dispatch the workflow to bootstrap"
+      skip_edit=true
+    elif [ -n "$missing" ]; then
+      log "#$n: WARNING: missing label(s)$missing — state still converged; dispatch the workflow to bootstrap"
+    fi
+  fi
+  if [ "$skip_edit" = false ] && { ! has_label "$desired" || [ -n "$remove" ] || [ -n "$add" ]; }; then
+    args=(--add-label "$desired${add:+,$add}")
     [ -n "$remove" ] && args+=(--remove-label "$remove")
     if run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" "${args[@]}" >/dev/null; then
-      log "#$n: state -> $desired${remove:+ (cleared $remove)}"
+      log "#$n: state -> $desired${add:+ +$add}${remove:+ (cleared $remove)}"
     else
       # a deleted label must not wedge the sweep — dispatch heals the taxonomy
       log "#$n: WARNING: label edit failed (missing label? run the workflow manually to bootstrap)"
@@ -327,6 +441,11 @@ main() {
     bootstrap_labels
   fi
 
+  # The repo's label set, read ONCE per sweep — reconcile_pr filters every
+  # add against it, because one unknown name fails the whole edit call.
+  REPO_LABELS="$(gh label list -R "$REPO" --limit 200 --json name --jq '.[].name' 2>/dev/null || echo "")"
+  [ -z "$REPO_LABELS" ] && log "WARNING: could not read the label set — applying labels unfiltered"
+
   local n
   for n in $(gh pr list -R "$REPO" --state open --limit 100 --json number --jq '.[].number'); do
     (
@@ -348,6 +467,13 @@ main() {
       GH_VIEW="$(gh pr view "$n" -R "$REPO" --json mergeable,statusCheckRollup 2>/dev/null || echo '{}')"
       MERGEABLE="$(jq -r '.mergeable // "UNKNOWN"' <<<"$GH_VIEW")"
       CHECKS="$(checks_state <<<"$GH_VIEW")"
+      # Read failed: leave this PR exactly as it is. Recomputing on facts we
+      # did not read is how an API hiccup turns into a false "merge me" —
+      # and the next tick is 15 minutes away, not 15 hours.
+      if [ "$CHECKS" = UNREADABLE ]; then
+        log "#$n: could not read mergeability/checks — left alone this pass"
+        exit 0
+      fi
       reconcile_pr "$n"
     ) || log "#$n: reconcile failed — continuing with the remaining PRs"
   done
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 3ecbcee..0465a53 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@ jobs:
           shellcheck -x "${files[@]}"
       - name: cli tests
         run: bash test/cli.sh
+      # test/labels-reconcile.sh existed here since #87 but ran nowhere: the
+      # label state machine gates every PR on this repo and its fixtures were
+      # green only when someone remembered to run them by hand. Same step, same
+      # place as heavy-duty/box.
+      - name: labels state-machine tests
+        run: bash test/labels-reconcile.sh
       - name: release-flow tests
         run: bash test/release.sh
 
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2075c5d..9f0a755 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,31 @@ on the way to cutting its first release, and this file starts there.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **An unreadable check rollup no longer reads as "nothing is failing"** (#90)
+  — when `gh pr view` failed, the fallback left the `statusCheckRollup` key
+  absent entirely, and `(.statusCheckRollup // [])` collapsed that into the
+  same `NONE` as a PR that genuinely has no checks. `NONE` blocks nothing, so
+  a transient API failure presented the PR as mergeable by a human: an unknown
+  certified as green, which is the exact shape of the bug #87 was opened to
+  stop, surviving in the one place that fix never looked.
+
+  `checks_state` now separates the two — `UNREADABLE` for an absent key (a
+  read that failed), `NONE` for a present-but-empty array (a PR that really
+  has no checks) — and the sweep leaves an `UNREADABLE` PR exactly as it
+  found it rather than recomputing labels from facts it did not read.
+  Deliberately *not* a blocker: blocking would flap the whole board on one bad
+  API call, and the next tick is fifteen minutes away. Caught by the author
+  after opening the PR, not by review.
+
+- **CI runs `test/labels-reconcile.sh`, which it had never run** (#90) — the
+  file arrived with #87 and `ci.yml` was not extended to call it, so the label
+  state machine that gates every PR in this repo went covered only by whoever
+  remembered to run its fixtures by hand. #88 merged reporting 51 passing
+  fixtures: true on the author's machine, never once verified here. Box and
+  cast both ran the suite already; only rig did not, so this closes a rig-local
+  gap rather than a family-wide one. It was found by asking, while adding
+  fixtures to the suite, where the suite actually ran.
+
 - **`state:needs-human` no longer appears on PRs a human cannot merge**
   (#87, heavy-duty/box#136) — `decide_state()` derived state from three inputs
   (draft flag, requested reviewers, submitted reviews) and read *nothing* about
@@ -163,6 +188,55 @@ on the way to cutting its first release, and this file starts there.
 
 ### Changed
 
+- **PR labels split into two axes: `state:*` (whose ball) and `blocker:*`
+  (what is in the way)** (heavy-duty/box#137) — `state:needs-rebase`, added
+  here only days ago by #87, is retired in the same breath. In its place:
+  `blocker:conflict`, `blocker:ci-red` and `blocker:unrequested`, applied
+  additively. A single rule joins the axes — `state:needs-human` requires zero
+  blockers — which is the invariant #87 was reaching for, stated once instead
+  of defended at every branch of a precedence chain.
+
+  The single-label design projected independent facts onto one totally-ordered
+  value. Mergeability, check status and the review round move on their own
+  clocks; a PR can be conflicted *and* red *and* stalled at the same instant.
+  A total order has to pick one of those to say, so the rest vanish. Every
+  precedence bug this machine has had lived on that ordering, #87's included:
+  the fix there was to reorder the chain and collect the round before deciding,
+  which bought correctness for one more configuration without removing the
+  reason the next one would break. `state:needs-rebase` was the design's
+  clearest tell — a single label fired by both a conflict and a failing check,
+  two problems needing opposite work, telling an agent to rebase when what it
+  owed was a bug fix. Box's board has the case in the open: #120 was conflicted
+  **and** red, and could only ever say one of them.
+
+  Blockers are a set. There is no precedence between them to get wrong, and
+  adding a fourth one later cannot reshuffle the meaning of the other three.
+  What stays on the ordered axis is purely the review round, which is the one
+  place here where an ordering is genuinely meaningful — a round really does
+  have a sequence.
+
+  `state:bots-reviewing` tightens with it, to mean strictly *a request is live
+  and an answer is coming*. A ready PR nobody was asked to review used to read
+  as "waiting on the reviewers" until the stale sweep caught up; it now reads
+  `state:addressing` + `blocker:unrequested`, because the agent owes the ask
+  and the board should say so. `blocker:unrequested` covers both shapes of
+  "this head has no verdict from somebody": nobody reviewed it, or everybody
+  reviewed an older tree and the approvals staled behind a push. The second is
+  the worse of the two, since it leaves approvals on the page that no longer
+  describe the code. Drafts stay exempt — the bots ignore drafts by design —
+  as does an explicit human request, since a maintainer claiming a PR early is
+  deliberate.
+
+  The reconciler strips `state:needs-rebase` on sight via a `RETIRED` list, so
+  the retirement heals the existing board instead of stranding a label that
+  nothing recomputes. It also filters every label it is about to *add* against
+  the repo's actual label set, read once per sweep: `gh issue edit` rejects the
+  whole call on one unknown name, so on a repo that has not yet bootstrapped
+  the new `blocker:*` labels a single missing one would have taken the state
+  convergence down with it — on exactly the PRs this change exists to heal.
+  Now the state still converges and the missing labels are named in the log.
+  Fixtures 51 → 72.
+
 - **BREAKING: `--class human|server` is now `--root-door closed|open`** (#77) —
   the trait was named for who *lives on* a box; what it decides is one thing,
   and it is not occupancy: whether root SSH stays open as the control plane's
diff --git a/LABELS.md b/LABELS.md
index 9527f6d..f352850 100644
--- a/LABELS.md
+++ b/LABELS.md
@@ -16,33 +16,61 @@ single reply, and a human takes the final review.
 |---|---|---|---|---|
 | `state:building` | `#FBCA04` | the coding agent, still building | PR opened as draft | marked ready + bot reviews requested |
 | `state:bots-reviewing` | `#1D76DB` | the reviewer bots to finish the round | ready with reviews requested, or fixes pushed and reviews re-requested | all three bots have reviewed the round |
-| `state:addressing` | `#D93F0B` | the coding agent to reply and push fixes | all bots reviewed the round, not all approved | the single round-reply is posted and fixes pushed |
-| `state:needs-rebase` | `#B60205` | the coding agent to rebase or fix | the branch does not merge — GitHub says `CONFLICTING`, or a check has failed | it merges cleanly and checks are green again |
-| `state:needs-human` | `#8250DF` | the human reviewer | the PR **could be merged right now**: mergeable, checks not failing, three formal head-current approvals — and the human review is requested | merged — or changes requested, which cycles back to `state:addressing` |
+| `state:addressing` | `#D93F0B` | the coding agent to reply, fix, or ask | all bots reviewed and not all approved; or nobody was asked; or a blocker is up | the round-reply is posted and fixes pushed — and any blocker named alongside is cleared |
+| `state:needs-human` | `#8250DF` | the human reviewer | the PR **could be merged right now**: no blockers, three formal head-current approvals — and the human review is requested | merged — or changes requested, which cycles back to `state:addressing` |
 
 `bots-reviewing` and `addressing` are deliberately distinct: staleness in the
 first means *poke the bots*, staleness in the second means *the agent dropped
 the ball*. Collapsing them loses exactly the information a sweep needs.
+`bots-reviewing` therefore means strictly *a request is live and an answer is
+coming* — a PR nobody was asked to review is the agent's ball, not the bots'.
+
+## The second axis: `blocker:*`
+
+State answers *whose ball is it*. Blockers answer *what is in the way*, and
+unlike states they are *facts about the branch* — mutually independent, so a
+PR carries as many as apply.
+
+| Label | Color | Means | Clears when |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| `blocker:conflict` | `#B60205` | GitHub says `CONFLICTING` — the agent owes a **rebase** | it merges cleanly |
+| `blocker:ci-red` | `#B60205` | a check failed — the agent owes a **fix**, which a rebase will not provide | checks are green |
+| `blocker:unrequested` | `#E99695` | this head has no verdict from somebody — never reviewed, or staled by a push — and **nobody was asked** for one | reviews are requested |
+
+One rule joins the axes: **`state:needs-human` requires zero blockers.** Any
+blocker means the work is the agent's, whatever the review round says.
+
+This split exists because the single-label version kept lying. Independent
+facts were projected onto one totally-ordered label, so one always had to win
+and the losers vanished off the board: a PR that was *both* conflicted and red
+could only say one of them, and `needs-rebase` told an agent to rebase when
+what it actually owed was a bug fix. Precedence between two blockers is not a
+question a set has to answer, which is why every ordering bug this machine has
+had — `needs-human` surviving a conflict, `MISSING` swallowing `STALE` — lived
+on the axis that had to be totally ordered.
+
+`state:needs-rebase` was the first attempt at this and is **retired**; the
+reconciler strips it on sight so no PR is left carrying a label nothing
+recomputes.
 
 **`state:needs-human` means one thing: a human could merge this right now.**
-Anything that makes that false outranks the review request that put it there,
-because the label is the only signal a maintainer scanning the board (or a
-phone) actually reads — and a label that says "your turn" on an unmergeable PR
-is worse than no label at all. Two things therefore take precedence over an
+The label is the only signal a maintainer scanning the board (or a phone)
+actually reads, and one that says "your turn" on an unmergeable PR is worse
+than no label at all. So beyond the blockers, one review fact also outranks an
 explicit human request:
 
-- **it does not merge** — `CONFLICTING`, or a failing check → `state:needs-rebase`
 - **nobody reviewed *this* head** — every approval staled by a push → `state:addressing`,
   because the agent owes a re-request
 
-The second is the more dangerous of the two: with a conflict, GitHub at least
-disables the merge button, while a staled-approval PR reads green, mergeable
+That case is more dangerous than any blocker: a blocked PR at least shows an X
+or a disabled merge button, while a staled-approval PR reads green, mergeable
 and "waiting on the human" over code no reviewer has seen.
 
-`UNKNOWN` mergeability is deliberately **not** treated as unmergeable. GitHub
+`UNKNOWN` mergeability is deliberately **not** treated as a conflict. GitHub
 reports it for about a minute after every merge while it recomputes, and
-flapping every open PR through `needs-rebase` on each merge would be worse than
-the bug this precedence fixes.
+flapping every open PR through `blocker:conflict` on each merge would be worse
+than the bug this fixes. A failed read of either branch fact degrades to the
+same "do not know" value, for the same reason.
 
 An *unfinished* round still yields to an explicit human request — a maintainer
 pulling a PR to themselves early is a deliberate act. `MISSING` (nobody has
@@ -96,8 +124,12 @@ missing label idempotently. To create them by hand (needs push access):
 gh label create "state:building"       --color FBCA04 --description "PR is a draft — the coding agent is still building" --force
 gh label create "state:bots-reviewing" --color 1D76DB --description "Waiting on the bot reviewers to finish the round" --force
 gh label create "state:addressing"     --color D93F0B --description "All bots reviewed — coding agent owes the single reply + fixes" --force
-gh label create "state:needs-rebase"   --color B60205 --description "Does not merge — conflicts or failing checks; the agent owes a fix" --force
-gh label create "state:needs-human"    --color 8250DF --description "Mergeable, green, all bots approve — waiting on the human reviewer" --force
+gh label create "blocker:conflict"     --color B60205 --description "Does not merge — the branch conflicts and the agent owes a rebase" --force
+gh label create "blocker:ci-red"       --color B60205 --description "A check is failing — the agent owes a fix (not a rebase)" --force
+gh label create "blocker:unrequested"  --color E99695 --description "Somebody still owes a verdict and nobody was asked for one" --force
+# retired — the reconciler strips it; delete it once no PR carries it
+# gh label delete "state:needs-rebase"
+gh label create "state:needs-human"    --color 8250DF --description "No blockers, all bots approve — waiting on the human reviewer" --force
 gh label create "merge-next"           --color 0E8A16 --description "Head of the merge queue — merge this one next (set by hand/agent, cleared here)" --force
 gh label create "stale"                --color B60205 --description "No activity for 48h — needs a poke (sweep-managed)" --force
 gh label create "blocked"              --color 6A737D --description "Waiting on another PR or issue to land first" --force
diff --git a/test/labels-reconcile.sh b/test/labels-reconcile.sh
index b68de99..cce4691 100644
--- a/test/labels-reconcile.sh
+++ b/test/labels-reconcile.sh
@@ -44,10 +44,15 @@ $BOT3" REVIEWS_JSON='[]'
 expect "requested bots mean bots-reviewing" state:bots-reviewing "$(decide_state)"
 
 # -- a bot that never reviewed keeps the round open ---------------------------
-REQUESTED="" REVIEWS_JSON="$(reviews \
+#    With a live request that is the bots' ball; with NO request outstanding it
+#    is the agent's, because nothing is coming until somebody asks.
+REQUESTED="$BOT3" REVIEWS_JSON="$(reviews \
   "$(rev "$BOT1" APPROVED head1 "" t1)" \
   "$(rev "$BOT2" APPROVED head1 "" t2)")"
-expect "missing bot review means bots-reviewing" state:bots-reviewing "$(decide_state)"
+expect "a missing bot WITH a live request is bots-reviewing" state:bots-reviewing "$(decide_state)"
+REQUESTED=""
+expect "...but with nobody asked it is the agent's ball" state:addressing "$(decide_state)"
+expect "...and the blocker names the stall" blocker:unrequested "$(blockers)"
 
 # -- a comment is a non-verdict, agreement body or not: the author escalates --
 REVIEWS_JSON="$(reviews \
@@ -157,23 +162,65 @@ ALL_APPROVE="$(reviews \
   "$(rev "$BOT3" APPROVED head1 "" t3)")"
 
 # -- flavour 1: not mergeable. The merge button is disabled, yet the board
-#    said "your turn" on #119/#120/#127 for hours.
+#    said "your turn" on #119/#120/#127 for hours. The branch fact now rides
+#    the blocker axis; the state says whose ball it is, which is the agent's.
 DRAFT=false HEAD_SHA=head1 REQUESTED="" REVIEWS_JSON="$ALL_APPROVE" MERGEABLE=CONFLICTING CHECKS=SUCCESS
-expect "a CONFLICTING PR is needs-rebase, not needs-human" state:needs-rebase "$(decide_state)"
+expect "a CONFLICTING PR is the agent's, not the human's" state:addressing "$(decide_state)"
+expect "...and says WHY on the blocker axis" blocker:conflict "$(blockers)"
 REQUESTED="$HUMAN"
-expect "...even with the human explicitly requested" state:needs-rebase "$(decide_state)"
+expect "...even with the human explicitly requested" state:addressing "$(decide_state)"
 
-# -- red CI is the same claim: not something a human should merge.
+# -- red CI is the same claim, but NOT the same work: a rebase does not fix a
+#    failing test. Collapsing both into one needs-rebase label told the agent
+#    to do the wrong thing, which is why the axis split exists.
 REQUESTED="" MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=FAILURE
-expect "a red PR is needs-rebase" state:needs-rebase "$(decide_state)"
+expect "a red PR is the agent's" state:addressing "$(decide_state)"
+expect "...and is distinguishable from a conflict" blocker:ci-red "$(blockers)"
 REQUESTED="$HUMAN"
-expect "...and a human request does not override red CI" state:needs-rebase "$(decide_state)"
+expect "...and a human request does not override red CI" state:addressing "$(decide_state)"
+
+# -- both at once. The single-axis design could not say this at all: one label
+#    had to win, and the loser silently vanished off the board.
+REQUESTED="" MERGEABLE=CONFLICTING CHECKS=FAILURE
+expect "a conflicted AND red PR reports both blockers" "blocker:conflict
+blocker:ci-red" "$(blockers)"
+expect "...and is still just the agent's ball" state:addressing "$(decide_state)"
 
 # -- UNKNOWN is NOT unmergeable. GitHub reports it for ~a minute after every
 #    merge while it recomputes; treating it as broken would flap every open PR
-#    into needs-rebase on each merge — worse than the bug being fixed.
+#    on each merge — worse than the bug being fixed.
 REQUESTED="" MERGEABLE=UNKNOWN CHECKS=PENDING
-expect "UNKNOWN mergeability does not trigger needs-rebase" state:needs-human "$(decide_state)"
+expect "UNKNOWN mergeability blocks nothing" state:needs-human "$(decide_state)"
+expect "...and raises no blocker" "" "$(blockers)"
+
+# -- blocker:unrequested — the stalled round. Nobody owes an answer because
+#    nobody was ever asked, yet the board read "waiting on the bots" until
+#    `stale` noticed 48h later.
+MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS REQUESTED="" REVIEWS_JSON='[]'
+expect "ready, nobody asked, nothing reviewed raises unrequested" blocker:unrequested "$(blockers)"
+# ...the partial case is equally stalled: one verdict in, nobody asked for the rest
+REVIEWS_JSON="$(reviews "$(rev "$BOT1" APPROVED head1 "" t1)")"
+expect "one bot in, none requested is still unrequested" blocker:unrequested "$(blockers)"
+# ...a STALE round with nobody asked is the same debt, and arguably worse: the
+#    page carries approvals that no longer describe the tree. Guarding on
+#    MISSING alone let this one through with no blocker at all.
+REVIEWS_JSON="$(reviews \
+  "$(rev "$BOT1" APPROVED oldhead "" t1)" \
+  "$(rev "$BOT2" APPROVED oldhead "" t2)" \
+  "$(rev "$BOT3" APPROVED oldhead "" t3)")"
+expect "a stale round with nobody asked is unrequested too" blocker:unrequested "$(blockers)"
+expect "...and is still the agent's ball" state:addressing "$(decide_state)"
+# ...but a live request means an answer IS coming
+REVIEWS_JSON="$(reviews "$(rev "$BOT1" APPROVED head1 "" t1)")"
+REQUESTED="$BOT2"
+expect "a live bot request is not a stalled round" "" "$(blockers)"
+# ...and a draft is exempt: the bots ignore drafts by design
+DRAFT=true REQUESTED="" REVIEWS_JSON='[]'
+expect "a draft with nobody asked is not stalled" "" "$(blockers)"
+# ...as is an explicit human request — claiming a PR early is deliberate
+DRAFT=false REQUESTED="$HUMAN"
+expect "an early human claim is not a stalled round" "" "$(blockers)"
+REQUESTED="" REVIEWS_JSON="$ALL_APPROVE" MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS
 
 # -- flavour 2 (the dangerous one): mergeable, green, human requested, and
 #    NOBODY has reviewed this head. Observed on #119 after a rebase: every
@@ -207,7 +254,7 @@ expect "...and the same when the stale verdict is the LAST bot in BOTS" \
 REVIEWS_JSON="$(reviews "$(rev "$BOT1" APPROVED head1 "" t1)")"
 expect "an unfinished round still yields to an explicit human request" state:needs-human "$(decide_state)"
 REQUESTED=""
-expect "...and without that request it is still bots-reviewing" state:bots-reviewing "$(decide_state)"
+expect "...and without that request the agent owes the ask" state:addressing "$(decide_state)"
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # checks_state: the rollup classifier. It lived inline in main() for the first
@@ -221,6 +268,13 @@ ctx_() { jq -n --arg n "$1" --arg s "$2" --arg t "${3:-2026-07-20T15:00:00Z}" \
   '{__typename:"StatusContext", context:$n, state:$s, createdAt:$t}'; }
 
 expect "no checks at all is NONE" NONE "$(rollup '[]' | checks_state)"
+# A failed fetch leaves no rollup KEY; a PR with no checks leaves an empty
+# ARRAY. Collapsing the two let an API hiccup read as "nothing is failing" —
+# the same unknown-certified-as-green shape as #136, in the one place that
+# fix did not look. The caller skips an UNREADABLE PR rather than relabelling.
+expect "a failed read is UNREADABLE, not NONE" UNREADABLE "$(echo '{}' | checks_state)"
+expect "...and a real empty rollup is still NONE" NONE \
+  "$(echo '{"mergeable":"MERGEABLE","statusCheckRollup":[]}' | checks_state)"
 expect "all green is SUCCESS" SUCCESS \
   "$(rollup "[$(run_ a SUCCESS),$(run_ b SUCCESS)]" | checks_state)"
 expect "a queued run is PENDING" PENDING \
@@ -314,7 +368,8 @@ expect "...and the same when it finished green — mid-flight is not mergeable"
 #    take the PR off the human's plate, which is the whole point of #136.
 DRAFT=false HEAD_SHA=head1 REQUESTED="$HUMAN" REVIEWS_JSON="$ALL_APPROVE" MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE
 CHECKS="$(rollup "[$(run_ a SUCCESS),$(run_ b CANCELLED)]" | checks_state)"
-expect "a cancelled check reaches decide_state as needs-rebase" state:needs-rebase "$(decide_state)"
+expect "a cancelled check reaches decide_state as the agent's ball" state:addressing "$(decide_state)"
+expect "...via blocker:ci-red, not a conflict" blocker:ci-red "$(blockers)"
 
 # -- the happy path survives all of the above.
 REVIEWS_JSON="$ALL_APPROVE" MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS REQUESTED=""
@@ -324,5 +379,38 @@ DRAFT=true MERGEABLE=CONFLICTING
 expect "a draft is building even when conflicted" state:building "$(decide_state)"
 DRAFT=false MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS REQUESTED="" REVIEWS_JSON='[]'
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# reconcile_pr's cold-start path. Everything above tests pure functions, which
+# is exactly why a per-PR `return` in the label pre-flight got through review:
+# the fixtures could not reach it. A missing state:* label must skip the label
+# EDIT only — merge-next clearing and the stale sweep are independent of the
+# taxonomy, and stranding them reintroduced the false-invitation bug (a
+# `merge-next` claim surviving on a PR the board had moved to the agent).
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+reconcile_probe() { # $1 = REPO_LABELS content → the log lines reconcile_pr emits
+  (
+    REPO_LABELS="$1" REPO=owner/repo NOW="$(date +%s)"
+    LABELS="merge-next"                      # the PR carries a queue claim
+    DRAFT=false HEAD_SHA=head1 REQUESTED="" REVIEWS_JSON='[]'
+    MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS
+    PR_JSON='{"created_at":"2020-01-01T00:00:00Z"}'
+    run() { :; }                              # swallow mutations
+    gh() { :; }                               # no network
+    reconcile_pr 777 2>&1
+  )
+}
+
+cold="$(reconcile_probe "merge-next")"        # state:* labels absent entirely
+expect "a cold-start repo still clears merge-next" \
+  yes "$(grep -q 'cleared merge-next' <<<"$cold" && echo yes || echo no)"
+expect "...and still runs the stale sweep" \
+  yes "$(grep -q 'stale (' <<<"$cold" && echo yes || echo no)"
+expect "...while warning that the state label is missing" \
+  yes "$(grep -q "state label 'state:addressing' does not exist" <<<"$cold" && echo yes || echo no)"
+
+warm="$(reconcile_probe "$(printf 'state:addressing\nmerge-next\nstale\nblocker:unrequested')")"
+expect "a bootstrapped repo converges the state as well" \
+  yes "$(grep -q 'state -> state:addressing' <<<"$warm" && echo yes || echo no)"
+
 printf 'labels-reconcile tests: %d passed, %d failed\n' "$pass" "$fail"
 [ "$fail" -eq 0 ]