diff --git a/hub/CHANGELOG.md b/hub/CHANGELOG.md
index 50776dd..96abf38 100644
--- a/hub/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/hub/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ either way. **Only rows that actually carry an identity blob count**: the pre-v0
 retain nothing the screen could be talking about. It is a boolean and a timestamp; it grants **no read
 path**, which is still unbuilt (R-199's inventory).
 
+**And the hold REASON now matches the hold CAUSE.** Adding a second reason and leaving both surfaces
+printing the first is `CLAUDE.md`'s corollary, and it happened here: the freshly deployed hub logged
+`managed floor HELD for c11: agent "0.125.0" < MinAgent 0.113.0` — a comparison that is FALSE
+(0.125.0 is above 0.113.0) for a box held because its floor sat above the golden. Both the ACK log
+line and the Hosts-dashboard `HeldReason` now come from one `ManagedFloorDecision.HoldReason()`, and a
+test pins each reason to its cause. A true alarm that misdescribes itself is one the operator learns
+to dismiss.
+
 Tests: `managed_floor_test.go` — the campaign's exact numbers, held-regardless-of-agent, Scenario C
 (uncoupled untouched), floor==golden unchanged, unparseable golden. **Red-proof: removing the
 floor-above-golden branch reproduces the campaign's measurement exactly.**
diff --git a/hub/internal/api/handler.go b/hub/internal/api/handler.go
index d5ca696..9ceb117 100644
--- a/hub/internal/api/handler.go
+++ b/hub/internal/api/handler.go
@@ -540,8 +540,10 @@ func (h *Handler) handleReport(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	if fd := h.store.ResolveManagedFloor(payload.CustomerID); fd.Floor != "" {
 		resp["min_controller_version"] = fd.Floor
 	} else if fd.Held {
-		h.logger.Printf("[INFO] managed floor HELD for %s: agent %q < MinAgent %s (controller floor withheld)",
-			payload.CustomerID, fd.AgentVersion, fd.MinAgent)
+		// ONE sentence, from the decision itself — the two hold reasons must never drift apart
+		// across this line and the dashboard (see ManagedFloorDecision.HoldReason).
+		h.logger.Printf("[INFO] managed floor HELD for %s: %s (controller floor withheld)",
+			payload.CustomerID, fd.HoldReason())
 	}
 	if h.latestVersion != nil {
 		if latest := h.latestVersion.LatestVersion(); latest != "" {
diff --git a/hub/internal/store/managed_floor_test.go b/hub/internal/store/managed_floor_test.go
index 17d360b..1d1ae8d 100644
--- a/hub/internal/store/managed_floor_test.go
+++ b/hub/internal/store/managed_floor_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package store
 
-import "testing"
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
 
 // setHostAgent enrolls a host for customerID and records its agent version (the reality column).
 func setHostAgent(t *testing.T, s *Store, customerID, hostID, agentVer string) {
@@ -180,3 +183,49 @@ func TestResolveManagedFloor_R216_FloorAboveGolden(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	})
 }
+
+// The hold REASON must match the hold CAUSE. This is `CLAUDE.md`'s corollary, and it caught a real
+// slip in this very session: v0.97.0 added a second hold reason, and for one deploy the live hub
+// logged `managed floor HELD for c11: agent "0.125.0" < MinAgent 0.113.0` — a comparison that is
+// FALSE, for a box held because its floor sat above the golden. A true alarm that misdescribes itself
+// is one the operator learns to dismiss.
+func TestResolveManagedFloor_HoldReasonMatchesTheCause(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("beyond-golden hold names the floor and the golden, not the agent", func(t *testing.T) {
+		s := newTestStore(t)
+		_ = s.SetGlobalMinControllerVersion("0.200.0")
+		_ = s.SetArtifactManifest(ArtifactManifest{GoldenVersion: "0.192.0", MinAgent: "0.113.0"})
+		setHostAgent(t, s, "c11", "c11-36d660", "0.125.0")
+
+		reason := s.ResolveManagedFloor("c11").HoldReason()
+		if strings.Contains(reason, "< MinAgent") {
+			t.Fatalf("the beyond-golden hold claims an agent comparison that is FALSE here (0.125.0 > 0.113.0): %q", reason)
+		}
+		for _, want := range []string{"0.200.0", "0.192.0", "ABOVE"} {
+			if !strings.Contains(reason, want) {
+				t.Errorf("hold reason must name %q; got %q", want, reason)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("below-MinAgent hold still names the agent comparison", func(t *testing.T) {
+		s := newTestStore(t)
+		_ = s.SetGlobalMinControllerVersion("0.113.0")
+		_ = s.SetArtifactManifest(ArtifactManifest{GoldenVersion: "0.113.0", MinAgent: "0.81.0"})
+		setHostAgent(t, s, "c1", "h1", "0.79.0")
+
+		reason := s.ResolveManagedFloor("c1").HoldReason()
+		if !strings.Contains(reason, "0.79.0") || !strings.Contains(reason, "MinAgent 0.81.0") {
+			t.Fatalf("the below-MinAgent hold must name the agent comparison; got %q", reason)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("not held → no reason", func(t *testing.T) {
+		s := newTestStore(t)
+		_ = s.SetGlobalMinControllerVersion("0.113.0")
+		_ = s.SetArtifactManifest(ArtifactManifest{GoldenVersion: "0.113.0", MinAgent: ""})
+		setHostAgent(t, s, "c1", "h1", "0.70.0")
+		if r := s.ResolveManagedFloor("c1").HoldReason(); r != "" {
+			t.Fatalf("a served floor must have no hold reason, got %q", r)
+		}
+	})
+}
diff --git a/hub/internal/store/store.go b/hub/internal/store/store.go
index bf57929..f496dcb 100644
--- a/hub/internal/store/store.go
+++ b/hub/internal/store/store.go
@@ -1971,6 +1971,9 @@ type ManagedFloorDecision struct {
 	Floor        string // the controller-version floor to SERVE ("" = serve none)
 	Held         bool   // true = the floor is withheld (see HeldBeyondGolden for which of the two reasons)
 	AgentVersion string // the box's reported agent version ("" = unknown → held when MinAgent is set)
+	// RequestedFloor is the floor that was asked for, kept for the message: Floor is cleared to "" on
+	// a hold, and a reason naming an empty floor tells the operator nothing.
+	RequestedFloor string
 	// MinAgent is the manifest's vouched MinAgent — the agent requirement of the GOLDEN's controller
 	// (`ArtifactManifest.MinAgent`). ⚠ It describes the golden, NOT necessarily the version this
 	// decision is about; that gap is what HeldBeyondGolden closes. Empty = uncoupled, no gating.
@@ -1984,6 +1987,50 @@ type ManagedFloorDecision struct {
 	HeldBeyondGolden bool
 }
 
+// HoldReason is the ONE operator-facing sentence for a held floor, so the two hold reasons can never
+// drift apart across the log line and the dashboard again.
+//
+// ⚠ It exists because v0.97.0 introduced a second reason and, for one deploy, both surfaces still
+// printed the first: the live hub logged `managed floor HELD for c11: agent "0.125.0" < MinAgent
+// 0.113.0` — a comparison that is FALSE (0.125.0 is above 0.113.0) for a box held because its floor
+// sat above the golden. That is `CLAUDE.md`'s corollary exactly: when a verdict changes which field it
+// counts from, the alarm text has to change with it, or a true alarm reads as one to dismiss.
+// Returns "" when not held.
+func (d ManagedFloorDecision) HoldReason() string {
+	switch {
+	case !d.Held:
+		return ""
+	case d.HeldBeyondGolden:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("held: floor %s is ABOVE the vouched golden %s, so its agent requirement is unknown — vouch a golden carrying the floor's controller (publish-train rule 1)",
+			d.EffectiveFloorForMessage(), goldenOrUnknown(d.GoldenVersion))
+	default:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("held: agent %s < MinAgent %s", agentOrUnknownVersion(d.AgentVersion), d.MinAgent)
+	}
+}
+
+// EffectiveFloorForMessage reports the floor that was REQUESTED, for the message — Floor is cleared to
+// "" when held, and a message naming an empty floor tells the operator nothing.
+func (d ManagedFloorDecision) EffectiveFloorForMessage() string {
+	if d.RequestedFloor != "" {
+		return d.RequestedFloor
+	}
+	return d.Floor
+}
+
+func goldenOrUnknown(v string) string {
+	if v == "" {
+		return "(none vouched)"
+	}
+	return v
+}
+
+func agentOrUnknownVersion(v string) string {
+	if v == "" {
+		return "(unknown)"
+	}
+	return v
+}
+
 // ResolveManagedFloor decides the controller-version floor to serve a customer, HOLDING it rather
 // than pushing a controller past the agent it depends on (Part D — the hub-enforced "agent BEFORE
 // controller floor" rule).
@@ -2020,6 +2067,7 @@ type ManagedFloorDecision struct {
 // A held box is VISIBLE (the dashboard renders the reason), never silently stale.
 func (s *Store) ResolveManagedFloor(customerID string) ManagedFloorDecision {
 	d := ManagedFloorDecision{Floor: s.EffectiveMinControllerVersion(customerID)}
+	d.RequestedFloor = d.Floor
 	if d.Floor == "" {
 		return d
 	}
diff --git a/hub/internal/web/hosts.go b/hub/internal/web/hosts.go
index 235b3cc..85d4664 100644
--- a/hub/internal/web/hosts.go
+++ b/hub/internal/web/hosts.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"database/sql"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
-	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
@@ -401,7 +400,7 @@ func (s *Server) handleHostsList(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		// never silently stale.
 		if fd := s.store.ResolveManagedFloor(h.CustomerID); fd.Held {
 			row.FloorHeld = true
-			row.HeldReason = fmt.Sprintf("held: agent %s < MinAgent %s", agentOrUnknown(fd.AgentVersion), fd.MinAgent)
+			row.HeldReason = fd.HoldReason()
 		}
 
 		// Guest counts from the reality table (per-host accurate).