diff --git a/content/docs/lightcone-cli/commands/materialize.mdx b/content/docs/lightcone-cli/commands/materialize.mdx
index eb7db5d..2e72ddb 100644
--- a/content/docs/lightcone-cli/commands/materialize.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/lightcone-cli/commands/materialize.mdx
@@ -110,9 +110,10 @@ stronger consent than a flag.
 }
 ```
 
-The first two keys are the ones to branch on: `ok` means everything attempted finished;
-`up_to_date` means nothing needed doing (a failed run is never up to date, and `behind` outputs
-don't count against it). `planned` is check mode's answer, mapping each would-run output to why;
+The first two keys are the ones to branch on. `ok` is the command result: in execution mode, every
+attempted output finished; in check mode, no output would run. A failed run or a check with planned
+work returns `ok: false` and exits 1. `up_to_date` means nothing was or needs to be done (a failed
+run is never up to date, and `behind` outputs do not count against it). `planned` is check mode's answer, mapping each would-run output to why;
 `behind` maps each left-alone output to the commit that can rebuild its environment. `notes` carries
 sandbox messages verbatim: denial remedies are built to be pasted.
 
diff --git a/content/docs/lightcone-cli/commands/status.mdx b/content/docs/lightcone-cli/commands/status.mdx
index 081b817..8d8514b 100644
--- a/content/docs/lightcone-cli/commands/status.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/lightcone-cli/commands/status.mdx
@@ -32,8 +32,9 @@ The header is repository facts: which mode the project executes in (and, for a c
 project, the image's tag and state), and what enforcement a run on this host would get. No runtime
 and no network is needed to answer either.
 
-Then one line per output the spec declares, in dependency order: its state, **the commit it was
-made at**, and, for anything not current, why. The commit column is the verb's reason to exist:
+Then one line per output the spec declares: recipe outputs appear in dependency order, and outputs
+without recipes appear as `no recipe`. Each line gives its state, **the commit it was made at**,
+and, for stale or behind outputs, why. The commit column is the verb's reason to exist:
 "which code made this?" has an answer for a current output too, and for a `behind` output that
 commit is where the environment that produced it can be read back.
 
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ commit is where the environment that produced it can be read back.
   `--refresh` remakes.
 - `stale`: contradicts the project: definition changed, an input's content changed, or the output
   was edited by hand since it was made (a *foreign write*; the offending commit is named).
+- `no recipe`: declared but not executable yet; add a recipe to make it.
 
 ## Report vs gate
 
@@ -64,7 +66,7 @@ status for eyes, check for exit codes.
   "mode": "direct",
   "image": null,
   "sandbox": "landlock (fs: declared, network: allowed)",
-  "counts": {"current": 4, "behind": 0, "stale": 0},
+  "counts": {"current": 4, "behind": 0, "stale": 0, "no recipe": 0},
   "outputs": [
     {
       "output": "baseline/fit",