diff --git a/skills/ce-compound-refresh/scripts/validate-doc-claims.py b/skills/ce-compound-refresh/scripts/validate-doc-claims.py
index 2f624bb70..b31e01a66 100644
--- a/skills/ce-compound-refresh/scripts/validate-doc-claims.py
+++ b/skills/ce-compound-refresh/scripts/validate-doc-claims.py
@@ -272,12 +272,13 @@ def head_has_path(path: str) -> bool:
                 f"{upstream}: stale checkout? Annotate or verify against upstream."
             )
         else:
-            where = (
-                f"working tree or {upstream}" if upstream else "working tree"
-            )
             flags.append(
-                f"FLAG path `{token}`{loc} — not found in {where}. Fix the "
-                "citation, or annotate it as historical (e.g. removed by this fix)."
+                f"FLAG path `{token}`{loc} — not found under {base}"
+                + (f" or {upstream}" if upstream else "")
+                + ". This check only looks in this repository; verify other "
+                "repos or stores before treating the citation as wrong. Fix "
+                "the citation, or annotate it as historical (e.g. removed "
+                "by this fix)."
             )
 
     # --- 2. Cited commit SHAs ----------------------------------------------
diff --git a/skills/ce-compound/references/grounding-validation.md b/skills/ce-compound/references/grounding-validation.md
index 62c0d70cc..2342e66d0 100644
--- a/skills/ce-compound/references/grounding-validation.md
+++ b/skills/ce-compound/references/grounding-validation.md
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ The script reports flags; you decide each one. Three resolutions — **fix**, **
 
 | Flag | Likely meaning | Resolution |
 |------|----------------|------------|
-| path not found anywhere | Typo, or drafted from memory | Fix the citation or remove the claim |
+| path not found under the search base | Typo, or a real path this repo-scoped check cannot see — another store, or a target the citing sentence itself says is gone | Read that sentence and check stores outside this repository before treating the citation as wrong; then fix it, or annotate it as historical |
 | path missing here, exists at upstream | Stale checkout | Verify the claim against upstream; annotate if the doc implies the file is present locally |
 | path deliberately gone (doc says removed/renamed) | Historical citation | Confirm the surrounding prose marks it as historical ("removed by this fix", "pre-fix state"); add that marker if absent |
 | SHA does not resolve | Fabricated or from another repo | Replace with the PR number, or drop |
diff --git a/skills/ce-compound/scripts/validate-doc-claims.py b/skills/ce-compound/scripts/validate-doc-claims.py
index 2f624bb70..b31e01a66 100644
--- a/skills/ce-compound/scripts/validate-doc-claims.py
+++ b/skills/ce-compound/scripts/validate-doc-claims.py
@@ -272,12 +272,13 @@ def head_has_path(path: str) -> bool:
                 f"{upstream}: stale checkout? Annotate or verify against upstream."
             )
         else:
-            where = (
-                f"working tree or {upstream}" if upstream else "working tree"
-            )
             flags.append(
-                f"FLAG path `{token}`{loc} — not found in {where}. Fix the "
-                "citation, or annotate it as historical (e.g. removed by this fix)."
+                f"FLAG path `{token}`{loc} — not found under {base}"
+                + (f" or {upstream}" if upstream else "")
+                + ". This check only looks in this repository; verify other "
+                "repos or stores before treating the citation as wrong. Fix "
+                "the citation, or annotate it as historical (e.g. removed "
+                "by this fix)."
             )
 
     # --- 2. Cited commit SHAs ----------------------------------------------
diff --git a/tests/doc-claims-validator.test.ts b/tests/doc-claims-validator.test.ts
index c50a092df..6637dadcb 100644
--- a/tests/doc-claims-validator.test.ts
+++ b/tests/doc-claims-validator.test.ts
@@ -140,14 +140,18 @@ describe("validate-doc-claims script", () => {
         expect(result.stdout).not.toContain("FLAG")
       })
 
-      test("flags a cited path that exists nowhere", () => {
+      test("flags a cited path that exists nowhere, naming the search base as repo-scoped", () => {
         const docPath = writeRepoDoc(
           "The handler is `src/does-not-exist.ts` in the tree.\n",
         )
         const result = runValidator(skillDir, docPath)
         expect(result.code).toBe(1)
         expect(result.stdout).toContain("FLAG path `src/does-not-exist.ts`")
-        expect(result.stdout).toContain("not found")
+        expect(result.stdout).toContain("not found under ")
+        expect(result.stdout).toContain(path.basename(repo))
+        expect(result.stdout).toContain(
+          "This check only looks in this repository",
+        )
       })
 
       test("classifies a path that only exists upstream as stale-checkout", () => {