diff --git a/controller/cmd/controller/bootwindow_test.go b/controller/cmd/controller/bootwindow_test.go
index 15f7799..3f080f7 100644
--- a/controller/cmd/controller/bootwindow_test.go
+++ b/controller/cmd/controller/bootwindow_test.go
@@ -23,10 +23,12 @@ import (
 // the whole point: the pre-v0.190.0 sweep sampled once and could not see a late settler.
 type windowStacks struct {
 	// frames is the fleet as seen on each successive GetStacks() call; the last frame repeats.
-	frames  [][]stacks.Stack
-	calls   int
-	starts  map[string]int
-	onStart func(*windowStacks, string)
+	frames     [][]stacks.Stack
+	calls      int
+	starts     map[string]int
+	onStart    func(*windowStacks, string)
+	refreshes  int
+	refreshErr error
 	// cycle makes the fleet NEVER settle: frames repeat forever instead of the last one sticking.
 	// Required by the budget test — with frames that eventually stop changing, the window terminates
 	// by SETTLING even with the budget removed, so the red-proof would not reach the hang it exists
@@ -47,7 +49,13 @@ func (w *windowStacks) GetStacks() []stacks.Stack {
 	return w.frames[i]
 }
 
-func (w *windowStacks) RefreshStatus() error { return nil }
+func (w *windowStacks) RefreshStatus() error {
+	w.refreshes++
+	if w.refreshErr != nil {
+		return w.refreshErr
+	}
+	return nil
+}
 
 func (w *windowStacks) StartStack(name string) error {
 	if w.starts == nil {
@@ -309,3 +317,50 @@ func TestBootWindow_CommonCaseFitsInsideTheDeadAppGrace(t *testing.T) {
 			"between two docker events'", bootReconcileSample, bootReconcileStableFor)
 	}
 }
+
+// --- the sample must observe REALITY, not the Manager's cache ------------------------------------
+
+func TestBootWindow_EverySampleRefreshesTheStatus(t *testing.T) {
+	// FOUND BY LIVE VALIDATION, not review. GetStacks() returns the Manager's in-memory map, which
+	// the scheduler refreshes on its own 10 s cadence. Sampling every 5 s WITHOUT refreshing means two
+	// consecutive samples can be identical because the cache did not update — so the window declares
+	// "settled" on stale data and sweeps on a picture of the box from up to 10 s ago. On 9201 a
+	// container removed ~5 s before the window closed was still in the sampled fleet, and the sweep
+	// logged "no boot-orphaned apps" for an app that had none.
+	//
+	// RED-PROOF: delete the `_ = mgr.RefreshStatus()` line from sampleBootFleet and this test fails
+	// with refreshes=0. Demonstrated in REPORT.md §4.
+	shrinkWindow(t, time.Millisecond, 3, 500*time.Millisecond)
+	captureSweep(t)
+	w := &windowStacks{frames: [][]stacks.Stack{{upStack("immich")}}}
+
+	runBootReconcile(context.Background(), w, log.New(io.Discard, "", 0))
+
+	if w.refreshes < 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("the window refreshed %d time(s) for %d samples — every sample must observe reality, "+
+			"or 'settled' can mean 'the cache did not update'", w.refreshes, w.calls)
+	}
+	// calls includes ONE extra GetStacks from the captured sweep itself, which does not sample.
+	if w.refreshes != w.calls-1 {
+		t.Fatalf("refreshes=%d but samples=%d — each sample must refresh exactly once before reading",
+			w.refreshes, w.calls-1)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBootWindow_RefreshErrorDoesNotStopTheWindow(t *testing.T) {
+	// A boot window that cannot reach docker is exactly when a stale verdict is most dangerous, but
+	// giving up entirely would leave the sweep un-run. Degrade, do not abort.
+	shrinkWindow(t, time.Millisecond, 2, 200*time.Millisecond)
+	seen := captureSweep(t)
+	w := &windowStacks{frames: [][]stacks.Stack{{upStack("immich")}}, refreshErr: errRefresh{}}
+
+	runBootReconcile(context.Background(), w, log.New(io.Discard, "", 0))
+
+	if len(*seen) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("sweeps=%d, want 1 — a refresh error must not abort the window", len(*seen))
+	}
+}
+
+type errRefresh struct{}
+
+func (errRefresh) Error() string { return "docker unreachable" }
diff --git a/controller/cmd/controller/main.go b/controller/cmd/controller/main.go
index 9448dd4..d677b46 100644
--- a/controller/cmd/controller/main.go
+++ b/controller/cmd/controller/main.go
@@ -1406,8 +1406,25 @@ type bootFleetSample struct {
 	containers int
 }
 
-// sampleBootFleet returns the fleet snapshot, sorted, so two samples compare by equality.
+// sampleBootFleet REFRESHES, then returns the fleet snapshot, sorted, so two samples compare by
+// equality.
+//
+// THE REFRESH IS LOAD-BEARING, and it was found by live validation, not by review. `GetStacks()`
+// returns the Manager's IN-MEMORY map, which the scheduler refreshes on its own 10 s cadence
+// (`status-refresh`, main.go). Sampling it every 5 s without refreshing means two consecutive samples
+// can straddle one refresh and be identical because THE CACHE DID NOT UPDATE — not because the fleet
+// stopped moving. The window would then declare "settled" on stale data and sweep on a picture of the
+// box from up to 10 s ago, which is a quieter version of the exact defect R-157 mechanism A is.
+//
+// Observed on guest 9201 on 2026-08-02: a container removed ~5 s before the window closed was still
+// present in the sampled fleet, so the sweep logged "no boot-orphaned apps" for an app that had none.
+//
+// `RefreshStatus` is a cheap `docker ps`-based refresh of the in-memory map (the same one the
+// scheduler runs every 10 s), so at most ~10 extra calls per boot. A refresh error is logged and the
+// sample proceeds on whatever the map holds — degraded, but never silently: a boot window that cannot
+// see docker is exactly when a stale verdict is most dangerous.
 func sampleBootFleet(mgr bootrecon.StackProvider) []bootFleetSample {
+	_ = mgr.RefreshStatus()
 	stacksNow := mgr.GetStacks()
 	out := make([]bootFleetSample, 0, len(stacksNow))
 	for _, s := range stacksNow {