diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0a5e9af..dd19988 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ All notable changes to `@hasna/contracts` are documented here.
   pagination across numeric cursors.
 - Adds the metadata-only `verify-write` command for checking stored writes
   without rendering capability-bearing content.
+- Keeps `safe-read` refusals metadata-only so child stderr and error-object
+  payloads cannot be reproduced in terminal output or durable transcripts.
 
 PATCH, not minor. This ships additive operational verification helpers without
 changing existing contract shapes.
diff --git a/src/safe-read-exec.ts b/src/safe-read-exec.ts
index e7df6db..a8b5ba6 100644
--- a/src/safe-read-exec.ts
+++ b/src/safe-read-exec.ts
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ function safeReadInner(request: SafeReadRequest): SafeReadResult {
       return fail(
         "completeness_unproven",
         `widening probe to ${flag} ${wider} exited ${widened.code}, so completeness is still unproven. ` +
-          `stderr: ${widened.stderr.trim().slice(0, 200)}`,
+          `Captured stderr was ${widened.stderr.length} byte(s); content was not rendered.`,
         evidence,
         pages
       );
diff --git a/src/safe-read.ts b/src/safe-read.ts
index 5843ad6..71e8c5b 100644
--- a/src/safe-read.ts
+++ b/src/safe-read.ts
@@ -253,9 +253,8 @@ export function classifyRead(captured: CapturedRead, options: ClassifyOptions =
   if (captured.code !== 0) {
     return refuse(
       "nonzero_exit",
-      `the command exited ${captured.code}. A failed read is not an empty set. stderr: ${
-        captured.stderr.trim().slice(0, 300) || "(empty)"
-      }`
+      `the command exited ${captured.code}. A failed read is not an empty set. ` +
+        `Captured stderr was ${captured.stderr.length} byte(s); content was not rendered.`
     );
   }
 
@@ -266,21 +265,19 @@ export function classifyRead(captured: CapturedRead, options: ClassifyOptions =
   let parsed: unknown;
   try {
     parsed = JSON.parse(captured.stdout);
-  } catch (error) {
-    const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
+  } catch {
     return refuse(
       "unparseable_stdout",
-      `stdout is not JSON (${message}). A parse failure is a refusal, never an empty list.`
+      "stdout was not valid JSON; parse details were not rendered. A parse failure is a refusal, never an empty list."
     );
   }
 
   if (isPlainObject(parsed)) {
     if (parsed.ok === false) {
-      const err = typeof parsed.error === "string" ? parsed.error : JSON.stringify(parsed).slice(0, 200);
-      return refuse("error_object", `the surface returned an error object at exit 0: ${err}`);
+      return refuse("error_object", "the surface returned an error object at exit 0; payload content was not rendered");
     }
     if (typeof parsed.error === "string" && parsed.error.length > 0) {
-      return refuse("error_object", `the surface returned an error object at exit 0: ${parsed.error}`);
+      return refuse("error_object", "the surface returned an error object at exit 0; payload content was not rendered");
     }
     if (parsed.store_exists === false) {
       return refuse(
@@ -309,7 +306,8 @@ export function classifyRead(captured: CapturedRead, options: ClassifyOptions =
     if (hit) {
       return refuse(
         "stderr_truncation_notice",
-        `stderr carries a truncation notice (${note}): "${hit[0]}". The body parsed cleanly at exit 0; only stderr says the read was bounded.`
+        `stderr carries a truncation notice (${note}); content was not rendered. ` +
+          "The body parsed cleanly at exit 0; only stderr says the read was bounded."
       );
     }
   }
diff --git a/tests/safe-read.test.ts b/tests/safe-read.test.ts
index c005052..a47adcf 100644
--- a/tests/safe-read.test.ts
+++ b/tests/safe-read.test.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import { KNOWN_CLAMPS, lookupClamp, runCaptured, safeRead } from "../src/safe-re
 import { runSafeReadCli } from "../src/cli/read";
 
 const ok = (stdout: string, stderr = ""): CapturedRead => ({ stdout, stderr, code: 0 });
+const SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL = "FAKE-SENSITIVE-STDERR-SENTINEL";
 
 /** A fake surface: maps an argv to a captured read. Spawns nothing, writes nothing. */
 function surface(handler: (argv: string[]) => CapturedRead) {
@@ -155,11 +156,27 @@ describe("mechanism 2: failed-as-empty", () => {
     expect(verdict.rowCount).toBe(0);
   });
 
+  test("REGRESSION: a nonzero child exit reports metadata without reproducing stderr", () => {
+    const verdict = classifyRead({ stdout: "", stderr: SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL, code: 1 });
+    expect(verdict.ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(verdict.code).toBe("nonzero_exit");
+    expect(verdict.reason).toContain("exited 1");
+    expect(verdict.reason).toContain(`Captured stderr was ${SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL.length} byte(s)`);
+    expect(`${verdict.reason}\n${verdict.evidence.join("\n")}`).not.toContain(SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL);
+  });
+
   test("KNOWN-BAD: an error object at rc=0 is still refused", () => {
     const verdict = classifyRead(ok(JSON.stringify({ ok: false, error: 'Project not found: "iproj-ads-ops"' })));
     expect(verdict.ok).toBe(false);
     expect(verdict.code).toBe("error_object");
-    expect(verdict.reason).toContain("iproj-ads-ops");
+    expect(verdict.reason).not.toContain("iproj-ads-ops");
+  });
+
+  test("REGRESSION: an error-object payload is never copied into refusal output", () => {
+    const verdict = classifyRead(ok(JSON.stringify({ ok: false, error: SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL })));
+    expect(verdict.ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(verdict.code).toBe("error_object");
+    expect(`${verdict.reason}\n${verdict.evidence.join("\n")}`).not.toContain(SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL);
   });
 
   test("KNOWN-BAD: store_exists=false is refused even with a well-formed empty list", () => {
@@ -366,6 +383,27 @@ describe("mechanism 3: unpaginated", () => {
     expect(result.code).toBe("store_unavailable");
     expect(result.rows).toEqual([]);
   });
+
+  test("REGRESSION: a failed widening probe reports metadata without reproducing stderr", () => {
+    let calls = 0;
+    const s = surface(() =>
+      ++calls === 1
+        ? ok(JSON.stringify(Array.from({ length: 20 }, (_, i) => i)))
+        : { stdout: "", stderr: SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL, code: 1 }
+    );
+    const result = safeRead({
+      argv: ["fake", "list"],
+      limit: 20,
+      limitFlag: "--limit",
+      widenTo: 80,
+      run: s.run
+    });
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.code).toBe("completeness_unproven");
+    expect(result.reason).toContain("exited 1");
+    expect(result.reason).toContain(`Captured stderr was ${SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL.length} byte(s)`);
+    expect(`${result.reason}\n${result.evidence.join("\n")}`).not.toContain(SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL);
+  });
 });
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -639,6 +677,65 @@ describe("capture path and CLI", () => {
     expect(parsed.scope).toBe("default");
   });
 
+  test("REGRESSION: human and JSON refusal output never reproduces child stderr or error payloads", () => {
+    const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "safe-read-redaction-"));
+    const stderrFixture = join(dir, "stderr-fixture.js");
+    const errorObjectFixture = join(dir, "error-object-fixture.js");
+    const wideningFixture = join(dir, "widening-fixture.js");
+    writeFileSync(stderrFixture, `console.error(${JSON.stringify(SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL)}); process.exit(1);\n`);
+    writeFileSync(
+      errorObjectFixture,
+      `process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({ok:false,error:${JSON.stringify(SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL)}}));\n`
+    );
+    writeFileSync(
+      wideningFixture,
+      `const limitAt = process.argv.indexOf("--limit"); const limit = limitAt >= 0 ? process.argv[limitAt + 1] : undefined;\n` +
+        `if (limit === "80") { console.error(${JSON.stringify(SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL)}); process.exit(7); }\n` +
+        `process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(Array.from({length:20},(_,i)=>i)));\n`
+    );
+    const commands = [
+      [process.execPath, stderrFixture],
+      [process.execPath, errorObjectFixture]
+    ];
+
+    try {
+      for (const json of [false, true]) {
+        for (const command of commands) {
+          const out: string[] = [];
+          const err: string[] = [];
+          const code = runSafeReadCli(command, { json }, { log: (s) => out.push(s), err: (s) => err.push(s) });
+          const rendered = `${out.join("\n")}\n${err.join("\n")}`;
+          expect(code).toBe(2);
+          expect(rendered).not.toContain(SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL);
+          if (command === commands[0]) {
+            expect(rendered).toContain("nonzero_exit");
+            expect(rendered).toContain("exited 1");
+            expect(rendered).toContain(`Captured stderr was ${SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL.length + 1} byte(s)`);
+          } else {
+            expect(rendered).toContain("error_object");
+            expect(rendered).toContain("payload content was not rendered");
+          }
+        }
+
+        const wideningOut: string[] = [];
+        const wideningErr: string[] = [];
+        const wideningCode = runSafeReadCli(
+          [process.execPath, wideningFixture],
+          { json, limit: "20", limitFlag: "--limit", widenTo: "80" },
+          { log: (s) => wideningOut.push(s), err: (s) => wideningErr.push(s) }
+        );
+        const wideningRendered = `${wideningOut.join("\n")}\n${wideningErr.join("\n")}`;
+        expect(wideningCode).toBe(2);
+        expect(wideningRendered).not.toContain(SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL);
+        expect(wideningRendered).toContain("completeness_unproven");
+        expect(wideningRendered).toContain("widening probe to --limit 80 exited 7");
+        expect(wideningRendered).toContain(`Captured stderr was ${SENSITIVE_OUTPUT_SENTINEL.length + 1} byte(s)`);
+      }
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   test("CLI --json carries scope on success", () => {
     const out: string[] = [];
     const code = runSafeReadCli(