diff --git a/backend/apps/agents/browser/browser_loop.py b/backend/apps/agents/browser/browser_loop.py
index 50f4534e..726c22ba 100644
--- a/backend/apps/agents/browser/browser_loop.py
+++ b/backend/apps/agents/browser/browser_loop.py
@@ -223,6 +223,38 @@ P_PRODUCTIVE_TOOLS = {
     "BrowserClick", "BrowserClickIndex", "BrowserType", "BrowserNavigate",
     "BrowserPressKey", "BrowserScroll", "BrowserBatch", "BrowserActVerified",
 }
+def typed_anything(action_log: list[dict]) -> bool:
+    """Did this run put TEXT into the page, as opposed to merely moving around it?
+
+    Keyed on the text ARGUMENT, not the tool name, because the same tool does both jobs:
+    BrowserClickIndex with a `text` arg is the fill path, and without one it is navigation. A run of
+    bare clicks and reads is busy and has typed nothing. Reported live on a "send hi to charles zheng
+    on linkedin" run whose entire trace was ListInteractives/GetText/ClickIndex/ListInteractives/
+    GetText: two reads, two navigation clicks, no message. Telling that user their send "may not have
+    gone out" points them at a page where nothing was ever composed.
+    """
+    for a in action_log:
+        if not a.get("ok"):
+            continue
+        inp = a.get("input") or {}
+        if isinstance(inp, dict) and str(inp.get("text") or "").strip():
+            return True
+        if a.get("tool") in ("BrowserType", "BrowserFindComposer", "send click"):
+            return True
+        # Some paths record the fill in the RESULT rather than the input: BrowserActVerified logs
+        # "filled:<payload>", and the send script's own rows describe the fill in prose. Missing
+        # those would call a run that really did type "never typed", which is the same class of
+        # wrong answer in the other direction.
+        if "fill" in str(a.get("result_summary") or "").lower():
+            return True
+        # A batch carries its own sub-actions; any typed sub counts.
+        for sub in (inp.get("actions") or []) if isinstance(inp, dict) else []:
+            sp = (sub or {}).get("params") or {}
+            if str(sp.get("text") or "").strip():
+                return True
+    return False
+
+
 # Read/extract tools: a look-only task's evidence is that a read returned content.
 P_READ_TOOLS = {
     "BrowserGetText", "BrowserGetElements", "BrowserListInteractives",
@@ -391,6 +423,16 @@ def completion_is_honest(
         if removal_task:
             return False, ("the deletion was never confirmed, so the item may still be there; "
                            "check the page before trusting this")
+        # "may not have gone out" implies something WAS attempted. When the run only ever read the
+        # page, nothing was: reported live on a "send hi to charles zheng on linkedin" run whose
+        # whole trace was ListInteractives/GetText/ClickIndex/ListInteractives/GetText, two reads
+        # and no typing. Telling that user to "check the page" sends them looking for a message that
+        # was never composed, and it hides the actual reason the run stopped early. Say which of the
+        # two happened, because they have completely different fixes.
+        if not typed_anything(action_log):
+            return False, ("I never actually typed the message, so nothing was sent and there is "
+                           "nothing on the page to check. Tell me the exact words to send "
+                           "(in quotes) and I will do it in one go")
         return False, ("the send was never confirmed, so it may not have gone out; "
                        "check the page before trusting this")
     if not action_log:
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_never_typed_message.py b/backend/tests/test_never_typed_message.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4b0ffb27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/test_never_typed_message.py
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+"""A send that never typed anything must say so, not "check the page".
+
+Reported live by Eric on 2026-08-04: "send hi to charles zheng on linkedin". The run's ENTIRE trace
+was ListInteractives, GetText, ClickIndex(21), ListInteractives, GetText, ClickIndex(116),
+ListInteractives, GetText. Two navigation clicks and three reads. Nothing was ever typed. It then
+reported "the send was never confirmed, so it may not have gone out; check the page before trusting
+this", which sends the user hunting for a message that was never composed and hides why the run
+stopped early.
+
+Both halves of that are failures, but they are DIFFERENT failures with different fixes: "we typed it
+and could not prove it left" needs receipt work; "we never typed it" needs the payload. The gate now
+distinguishes them, keyed on the text ARGUMENT rather than the tool name, because the same tool does
+both jobs: BrowserClickIndex with a `text` arg is the fill path, without one it is navigation.
+
+Root cause of the underlying decline, for the record: "send hi to X" carries no QUOTED payload, so
+quoted_payload returns "" and the scripted send stands down by design (it will not guess which words
+to send). That guard is right. What was wrong was the sentence the user got afterwards.
+"""
+
+from backend.apps.agents.browser.browser_loop import completion_is_honest, typed_anything
+
+# Eric's trace, verbatim.
+ERIC = [
+    {"tool": "BrowserListInteractives", "ok": True},
+    {"tool": "BrowserGetText", "ok": True},
+    {"tool": "BrowserClickIndex", "ok": True, "input": {"index": 21}},
+    {"tool": "BrowserListInteractives", "ok": True},
+    {"tool": "BrowserGetText", "ok": True},
+    {"tool": "BrowserClickIndex", "ok": True, "input": {"index": 116}},
+    {"tool": "BrowserListInteractives", "ok": True},
+    {"tool": "BrowserGetText", "ok": True},
+]
+
+
+def test_erics_run_is_told_nothing_was_typed():
+    honest, why = completion_is_honest(ERIC, publish_task=True, send_confirmed=False)
+    assert not honest
+    assert "never actually typed" in why
+    assert "check the page" not in why, "there is nothing on the page to check"
+    assert "in quotes" in why, "and it must say what would let it succeed next time"
+
+
+def test_a_run_that_did_type_keeps_the_unconfirmed_wording():
+    """The other failure is still a failure, and still worth checking the page for."""
+    typed = [{"tool": "BrowserClickIndex", "ok": True, "input": {"index": 5, "text": "hi"}}]
+    honest, why = completion_is_honest(typed, publish_task=True, send_confirmed=False)
+    assert not honest and "may not have gone out" in why
+
+
+def test_typing_is_detected_by_the_text_argument_not_the_tool_name():
+    """The distinction that makes this work: one tool, two jobs."""
+    assert not typed_anything([{"tool": "BrowserClickIndex", "ok": True, "input": {"index": 3}}])
+    assert typed_anything([{"tool": "BrowserClickIndex", "ok": True,
+                            "input": {"index": 3, "text": "hello"}}])
+    assert typed_anything([{"tool": "BrowserType", "ok": True, "input": {"selector": "#a"}}])
+
+
+def test_a_typed_sub_action_inside_a_batch_counts():
+    """The efficient path bundles type+press_key into one BrowserBatch; the text is a level down."""
+    assert typed_anything([{"tool": "BrowserBatch", "ok": True, "input": {"actions": [
+        {"type": "click_index", "params": {"index": 2}},
+        {"type": "type", "params": {"selector": "#m", "text": "hello"}},
+    ]}}])
+
+
+def test_a_failed_fill_does_not_count_as_typing():
+    """An attempt that errored put nothing in the box, so the user has nothing to check."""
+    assert not typed_anything([{"tool": "BrowserClickIndex", "ok": False,
+                                "input": {"index": 5, "text": "hi"}}])
+
+
+def test_whitespace_is_not_a_message():
+    assert not typed_anything([{"tool": "BrowserClickIndex", "ok": True,
+                                "input": {"index": 5, "text": "   "}}])
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_removal_never_claims_a_send.py b/backend/tests/test_removal_never_claims_a_send.py
index d661fdfb..c91e3211 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_removal_never_claims_a_send.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_removal_never_claims_a_send.py
@@ -90,5 +90,8 @@ def test_the_completion_gate_describes_the_task_the_user_actually_gave():
     assert "deletion" in why and "may still be there" in why
     assert "gone out" not in why, "a delete must not be described as a send"
 
-    honest, why = completion_is_honest([], publish_task=True, send_confirmed=False)
+    # A run that DID type keeps the unconfirmed-send wording. (An empty log now correctly reports
+    # "never typed" instead, which is a different true statement; see test_never_typed_message.py.)
+    typed = [{"tool": "BrowserClickIndex", "ok": True, "input": {"index": 5, "text": "hello"}}]
+    honest, why = completion_is_honest(typed, publish_task=True, send_confirmed=False)
     assert not honest and "gone out" in why, "a real send keeps its own wording"