diff --git a/docs/i18n.md b/docs/i18n.md
index f4071b9c56..1e756511cb 100644
--- a/docs/i18n.md
+++ b/docs/i18n.md
@@ -282,7 +282,19 @@ That is why module-scope config objects survived the sweep, and why the
 new-code ratchet inherits the same hole. `check-module-scope-t.mjs` catches the
 adjacent case (a module-scope `t()` call, frozen at the boot locale) but not
 module-scope literal copy. Reviewing a new `const TABLE = [...]` of labels by eye
-is still required.
+is still required — and note the shape one step out from a config table is just
+as invisible: **a plain function returning object literals**, e.g. a
+`buildRows()` that returns `[{ label: "Disk usage" }]`, is never inspected either.
+
+**Walk the hooks your routes call, not just the components.** A closure derived
+from component imports misses them, and they hold no JSX so the string count
+reports them as zero. Settings → Agents shipped that way and needed a follow-up
+for a thrown `Error` and a `setError` fallback in two `hooks/domains/settings/`
+modules; Settings → System → Storage caught ten toast titles in
+`use-storage-maintenance.ts` only because it re-derived its closure instead of
+trusting the count. Install/update flows and any maintenance action are the
+toast-heavy cases. A count from `pnpm run lint:i18n` is a floor on the visible
+half, never a work-list.
 
 `externalize-strings.mjs`
 covers those shapes — it walks `.ts` as well as `.tsx` and handles template
@@ -391,11 +403,67 @@ through `t()` — that is the acceptance check for a migrated screen, and the on
 one that sees the guard's blind spots. Interpolation placeholders and `<n>` tag
 markers are preserved by the generator.
 
+Two qualifications, both below: an **interpolated API or network payload** stays
+English by design, so it is not a miss even though it renders unaccented; and
+plain English is not a *complete* signal, because a payload inside a translated
+frame renders accented and reads as done.
+
 It has one blind spot of its own: **module-scope `t()`**. That copy *is*
 translated, just frozen at the boot locale, so it renders accented under pseudo
 and looks correct while never responding to a switch. `check-module-scope-t.mjs`
 is what catches it.
 
+### …and it is weakest at an interpolated value
+
+Plain-English-on-screen is not a complete signal. When an un-migrated value is
+interpolated into a **migrated** frame, the frame renders accented and the
+payload reads as part of the sentence:
+
+```text
+agents:unableToStartUpdate = "Unable to start update: {{error}}"
+→  Ữńàƀĺē ţō śţàŕţ ūþďàţē: Agent installation is already in progress.
+```
+
+That scans as done. Both instances found this way survived a twelve-screen pseudo
+walk of the migrated surface before anyone noticed them.
+
+So when a message interpolates a value, ask **where the value originates**. That
+distinction is the whole check, and it is a two-minute grep over the paths you
+migrated:
+
+```bash
+cd apps/web
+grep -rnE 't\("[^"]+", \{ (error|message)' components app hooks | grep -v '\.test\.'
+```
+
+- **An API or network error payload stays English by design.** `String(err)` from
+  a failed request, or a `result.error` the backend returned, is a diagnostic —
+  see [Backend](#what-the-backend-deliberately-does-not-translate) for why the
+  ~1,100 server error strings are out of scope. Around 37 catalog keys already
+  interpolate one; none of them is a miss. Where such a call needs a fallback for
+  a missing payload, the *fallback* is copy and is translated
+  (`t("linear:testFailed", { error: result.error || t("linear:unknownError") })`)
+  while the payload itself is not.
+- **A client-side literal reaching a translated frame is a miss.** A string
+  thrown, `setError`'d, or assigned in one of your own hooks or helpers is copy
+  you wrote, and neither the lint rule nor the pseudo-locale can see it.
+
+**A translated toast followed by an English `throw` is correct, not a miss.**
+This shape recurs across the migrated GitHub and Jira settings and should not be
+churned:
+
+```tsx
+} catch {
+  toast({ description: t("github:failedToSaveQuickActions"), variant: "error" });
+  // Signals failure to the settings save coordinator, which only records the
+  // contributor id — this message never reaches a user, so it is not copy.
+  throw new Error("Failed to save quick actions");
+}
+```
+
+The user already saw translated copy; the throw is control flow for
+`useSettingsSaveContributor`. Translating it would change nothing on screen.
+
 While the migration is in flight, an unmigrated screen is expected to be full of
 plain English — pseudo only proves anything about screens whose components are on
 the `i18nGuardFiles` allowlist.