diff --git a/.changeset/22362-unscoped-run-strings.md b/.changeset/22362-unscoped-run-strings.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..63c76e179f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/22362-unscoped-run-strings.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/service-automation': patch
+'@objectstack/objectql': patch
+---
+
+fix(service-automation, objectql): the `runAs: 'user'` refusals and the run-setup warning say what a principal-less operation meets on both kernels
+
+Clause-②: no
+
+Three author-facing texts told a flow or hook author that a `runAs: 'user'` data operation with no trigger user "would execute UNSCOPED (elevated, RLS-bypassing)" if it were not refused. That holds only on a kernel with no security plugin. Since ADR-0096 D5, a kernel with `@objectstack/plugin-security` refuses an operation that carries no principal (`403 PERMISSION_DENIED`). Each text now says both: without a user the operation would carry no principal, refused by the security plugin where one is composed, unscoped where none is.
+
+- `@objectstack/service-automation`: the `UnscopedRunDataAccessError` message, and the `[runAs]` warning logged at run setup for a flow whose trigger resolved no user.
+- `@objectstack/objectql`: the `HookUnscopedDataAccessError` message.
+
+Only the wording changes. The refusals, their order, their codes (`AUTOMATION_UNSCOPED_RUN_DATA_ACCESS`, `HOOK_UNSCOPED_DATA_ACCESS` with its `403` status) and their remedy are unchanged: declare `runAs: 'system'` to make the elevation explicit and intended, or arrange for the trigger to supply a user.
diff --git a/packages/objectql/src/hook-run-as.test.ts b/packages/objectql/src/hook-run-as.test.ts
index 18094af7cca..3fc784ae8e4 100644
--- a/packages/objectql/src/hook-run-as.test.ts
+++ b/packages/objectql/src/hook-run-as.test.ts
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ describe('#14010 Hook.runAs — the identity a hook\'s ctx.api presents', () =>
       expect(thrown.hook).toBe('stamp_grade');
       // The remedy the author can act on, and the reason.
       expect(thrown.message).toContain("runAs: 'system'");
-      expect(thrown.message).toContain('UNSCOPED');
+      expect(thrown.message).toContain('refused by the security plugin where one is composed, unscoped where none is');
       // The decisive half: refusing means the operation did NOT run unscoped.
       expect(engine.seen).toEqual([]);
     });
diff --git a/packages/objectql/src/hook-run-as.ts b/packages/objectql/src/hook-run-as.ts
index 315739a3507..26d796cde2d 100644
--- a/packages/objectql/src/hook-run-as.ts
+++ b/packages/objectql/src/hook-run-as.ts
@@ -117,8 +117,8 @@ export class HookUnscopedDataAccessError extends Error {
       .join(', ');
     super(
       `[runAs] refusing a data operation (${where}): this hook's runAs is 'user' but no trigger user ` +
-        `could be resolved, so the operation would execute UNSCOPED (elevated, RLS-bypassing) rather ` +
-        `than restricted to a user. Declare \`runAs: 'system'\` on the hook to make the elevation ` +
+        `could be resolved, so the operation cannot be restricted to a user. Without one it would carry no principal: ` +
+        `refused by the security plugin where one is composed, unscoped where none is. Declare \`runAs: 'system'\` on the hook to make the elevation ` +
         `explicit and intended, or arrange for the trigger to supply a user (a write made with a system ` +
         `context carries none). Branch on \`code === '${HOOK_UNSCOPED_DATA_ACCESS_CODE}'\` (ADR-0112) ` +
         `to detect this. (ADR-0049)`,
diff --git a/packages/services/service-automation/src/builtin/crud-runas.test.ts b/packages/services/service-automation/src/builtin/crud-runas.test.ts
index 073b2d4fc2d..f5f3e321cb0 100644
--- a/packages/services/service-automation/src/builtin/crud-runas.test.ts
+++ b/packages/services/service-automation/src/builtin/crud-runas.test.ts
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ describe('resolveRunDataContext (#1888 unit)', () => {
     expect(err).toBeInstanceOf(UnscopedRunDataAccessError);
     expect((err as UnscopedRunDataAccessError & { code: string }).code).toBe('AUTOMATION_UNSCOPED_RUN_DATA_ACCESS');
     expect(err!.message).toMatch(/runAs: 'system'/);
-    expect(err!.message).toMatch(/UNSCOPED/);
+    expect(err!.message).toMatch(/refused by the security plugin where one is composed, unscoped where none is/);
     // Names WHERE, so a refusal in a busy log is traceable to a flow + record.
     expect(err!.message).toContain("object 'invoice'");
     expect(err!.message).toContain("run 'run_1'");
diff --git a/packages/services/service-automation/src/engine.ts b/packages/services/service-automation/src/engine.ts
index 864cbaf51b0..902f16ba587 100644
--- a/packages/services/service-automation/src/engine.ts
+++ b/packages/services/service-automation/src/engine.ts
@@ -6132,9 +6132,9 @@ export class AutomationEngine implements IAutomationService {
         if (runIsUnscopedUserMode(runContext) && flowTouchesData(flow)) {
             this.logger.warn(
                 `[runAs] flow '${flow.name}' executes with runAs:'user' but its trigger resolved no user ` +
-                `— its data operations will be REFUSED. Running them would execute UNSCOPED ` +
-                `(elevated, RLS-bypassing) rather than restricted, which is the fail-open ADR-0049 ` +
-                `forbids. Declare runAs:'system' to make the elevation explicit and intended, or arrange ` +
+                `— its data operations will be REFUSED. Without a user they would carry no principal: ` +
+                `refused by the security plugin where one is composed, unscoped where none is (the fail-open ADR-0049 forbids). ` +
+                `Declare runAs:'system' to make the elevation explicit and intended, or arrange ` +
                 `for the trigger to supply a user. Note a user-less trigger is NOT only a schedule: a ` +
                 `record-change flow fired by a system write carries no user either (ADR-0049).`,
             );
diff --git a/packages/services/service-automation/src/runtime-identity.ts b/packages/services/service-automation/src/runtime-identity.ts
index 19e1dde08e8..613932cfc20 100644
--- a/packages/services/service-automation/src/runtime-identity.ts
+++ b/packages/services/service-automation/src/runtime-identity.ts
@@ -86,8 +86,8 @@ export class UnscopedRunDataAccessError extends Error {
       .join(', ');
     super(
       `[runAs] refusing a data operation${where ? ` (${where})` : ''}: this run's effective runAs is ` +
-        `'user' but no trigger user could be resolved, so the operation would execute UNSCOPED ` +
-        `(elevated, RLS-bypassing) rather than restricted to a user. Declare \`runAs: 'system'\` on the ` +
+        `'user' but no trigger user could be resolved, so the operation cannot be restricted to a user. Without one it would carry no principal: ` +
+        `refused by the security plugin where one is composed, unscoped where none is. Declare \`runAs: 'system'\` on the ` +
         `flow to make the elevation explicit and intended, or arrange for the trigger to supply a user ` +
         `(a write made with a system context carries none). (ADR-0049)`,
     );
diff --git a/packages/triggers/trigger-schedule/src/schedule-runas-e2e.test.ts b/packages/triggers/trigger-schedule/src/schedule-runas-e2e.test.ts
index a8e3513169b..311d9d20fde 100644
--- a/packages/triggers/trigger-schedule/src/schedule-runas-e2e.test.ts
+++ b/packages/triggers/trigger-schedule/src/schedule-runas-e2e.test.ts
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ describe('schedule trigger -> engine: user-less runAs fail-open via the REAL cro
     const w = runAsWarns(warns);
     expect(w).toHaveLength(1);
     expect(w[0]).toContain("flow 'nightly_sweep'");
-    expect(w[0]).toMatch(/UNSCOPED/);
+    expect(w[0]).toMatch(/refused by the security plugin where one is composed, unscoped where none is/);
     expect(w[0]).toMatch(/runAs:'system'/);
   });