diff --git a/checks/_helpers/collectors.mjs b/checks/_helpers/collectors.mjs
index c43b278e..ac16b22f 100644
--- a/checks/_helpers/collectors.mjs
+++ b/checks/_helpers/collectors.mjs
@@ -222,6 +222,13 @@ export function collectD1(context) {
     const impactedBrokenRepos = impactedBrokenReposGuarded
       ? (await d1Query(`SELECT r.owner, r.repo, rtrim((CASE WHEN EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM skills s WHERE s.owner = r.owner AND s.repo = r.repo) THEN 'skill ' ELSE '' END) || (CASE WHEN EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM user_starred_repos usr WHERE usr.owner = r.owner AND usr.repo = r.repo) THEN 'star ' ELSE '' END) || (CASE WHEN EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM skill_subscriptions sub WHERE sub.owner = r.owner AND sub.repo = r.repo) THEN 'subscription ' ELSE '' END) || (CASE WHEN EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM collection_skills_v2 cs WHERE cs.owner = r.owner AND cs.repo = r.repo) THEN 'collection ' ELSE '' END)) AS reason FROM repos r WHERE ${impactedBrokenReposWhere} ORDER BY r.broken_since DESC`))
       : null
+    // A bare `skill_sync_failures` count made a RED night name no Skills, so
+    // triage needed a hand-run D1 query two days running (2026-09-23). The
+    // identities behind the count are archived too, with the same filter so the
+    // number and the rows can never disagree.
+    const skillSyncFailures = has('skills')
+      ? (await d1Query(`SELECT owner, repo, name FROM skills WHERE sync_status IS NOT NULL AND sync_status != 'ok' AND last_synced_at >= ${sinceSec} ORDER BY last_synced_at DESC`))
+      : null
     const syncJobs = has('sync_jobs')
       ? (await d1Query(`SELECT name, cron, stale_after_seconds, last_run_at, last_status, last_error FROM sync_jobs WHERE enabled = 1 AND name != 'daily-health-check' ORDER BY name`))
       : null
@@ -252,6 +259,7 @@ export function collectD1(context) {
       pipeline: {
         ...(await d1Query(`SELECT ${pipelineParts.join(', ')}`))[0],
         newly_broken_repos_impacted_identities: impactedBrokenRepos,
+        skill_sync_failure_identities: skillSyncFailures,
       },
       cost: withXSpend((await d1Query(`SELECT ${costParts.join(', ')}`))[0]),
       syncJobs,
diff --git a/test/unit/daily-checkin-data.test.ts b/test/unit/daily-checkin-data.test.ts
index b3b9e11d..032bfdf2 100644
--- a/test/unit/daily-checkin-data.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/daily-checkin-data.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,22 @@
 // @vitest-environment node
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
 import { runExternalChecks } from '@harlan-zw/nuxt-checkin/external'
-import { expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { afterEach, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 import baselineCheck from '../../checks/external/baseline'
+import databaseCheck from '../../checks/external/database'
+
+const boundary = vi.hoisted(() => ({ command: vi.fn() }))
+vi.mock('@harlan-zw/nuxt-checkin/external', async (original) => {
+  const actual = await original<typeof import('@harlan-zw/nuxt-checkin/external')>()
+  return { ...actual, runCheckCommand: boundary.command }
+})
+const roots: string[] = []
+afterEach(async () => {
+  await Promise.all(roots.splice(0).map(root => rm(root, { recursive: true })))
+  boundary.command.mockReset()
+})
 
 const now = new Date('2026-09-14T00:00:00Z')
 it('records a stale window without blocking a successful replacement baseline', async () => {
@@ -13,3 +28,65 @@ it('marks an invalid comparison window as missing evidence', async () => {
   expect(report.coverage).toBe('incomplete')
   expect(report.results[0]?.result).toMatchObject({ _tag: 'Warn', coverage: 'incomplete', evidence: { _tag: 'invalid' } })
 })
+
+// Issue #285: the gate read `skill_sync_failures` as a bare count, so a RED
+// night named no Skills and triage needed a hand-run D1 query two days running.
+it('archives the identities behind the skill sync failure count', async () => {
+  const since = new Date(now.getTime() - 24 * 3_600_000)
+  const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'skilld-checkin-sync-'))
+  roots.push(root)
+  await mkdir(join(root, 'shared/server'), { recursive: true })
+  await mkdir(join(root, 'migrations'))
+  await writeFile(join(root, 'shared/server/x-ingest.ts'), 'export const DAILY_DISCOVERY_READ_BUDGET = 400')
+  await writeFile(join(root, 'migrations/001.sql'), '')
+  const skills = [
+    { owner: 'anthu', repo: 'vite', name: 'env', sync_status: 'error', last_synced_at: Math.floor(since.getTime() / 1000) + 3600 },
+    { owner: 'obra', repo: 'superpowers', name: 'tdd', sync_status: 'path_missing', last_synced_at: Math.floor(since.getTime() / 1000) + 7200 },
+    { owner: 'harlan-zw', repo: 'skills', name: 'healthy', sync_status: 'ok', last_synced_at: Math.floor(since.getTime() / 1000) + 3600 },
+    { owner: 'stale', repo: 'old', name: 'old-failure', sync_status: 'error', last_synced_at: Math.floor(since.getTime() / 1000) - 1 },
+    { owner: 'fresh', repo: 'never-synced', name: 'no-status', sync_status: null, last_synced_at: Math.floor(since.getTime() / 1000) + 3600 },
+  ]
+  const failed = (sql: string) => {
+    const bound = Number(sql.match(/last_synced_at >= (\d+)/)![1])
+    return skills.filter(row => row.sync_status !== null && row.sync_status !== 'ok' && row.last_synced_at >= bound)
+  }
+  boundary.command.mockImplementation(async (_context, command: string, args: string[]) => {
+    let output: unknown = ''
+    if (command === 'git') {
+      output = args[0] === 'ls-tree' ? 'migrations/001.sql' : args[0] === 'branch' ? 'main' : args[0] === 'rev-parse' ? 'abc' : ''
+      return { _tag: 'Ok', stdout: output, stderr: '' }
+    }
+    const sql = args[args.indexOf('--command') + 1]!
+    let rows: unknown[] = []
+    if (sql.includes('sqlite_master'))
+      rows = ['skills', 'repos', 'owners', 'users', 'activity', 'sync_jobs', 'jobs', 'failed_jobs', 'd1_migrations'].map(name => ({ name }))
+    else if (sql.includes('SELECT owner, repo, name FROM skills'))
+      rows = failed(sql).sort((a, b) => b.last_synced_at - a.last_synced_at).map(({ owner, repo, name }) => ({ owner, repo, name }))
+    else if (sql.includes('MAX(name)'))
+      rows = [{ name: '001.sql' }]
+    else if (sql.includes('AS skills'))
+      rows = [{ skills: skills.length, broken_repos: 0 }]
+    else if (sql.includes('AS new_skills'))
+      rows = [{ new_skills: 0, digests_failed: 0 }]
+    else if (sql.includes('AS newly_broken_repos_total'))
+      rows = [{ newly_broken_repos_total: 0, stale_reserved_jobs: 0, skill_sync_failures: failed(sql).length, failed_jobs: 0 }]
+    else if (sql.includes('AS ai_cost_usd'))
+      rows = [{ x_discovery_reads_today: 10, x_hot_posts: 0 }]
+    output = [{ success: true, results: rows }]
+    return { _tag: 'Ok', stdout: JSON.stringify(output), stderr: '' }
+  })
+  const { report } = await runExternalChecks([databaseCheck], { required: [databaseCheck.id] }, { rootDir: root, env: {}, now, since })
+  expect(report.coverage).toBe('complete')
+  expect(report.results.find(check => check.id === 'skilld.database')?.result).toMatchObject({
+    _tag: 'Warn',
+    evidence: {
+      pipeline: {
+        skill_sync_failures: 2,
+        skill_sync_failure_identities: [
+          { owner: 'obra', repo: 'superpowers', name: 'tdd' },
+          { owner: 'anthu', repo: 'vite', name: 'env' },
+        ],
+      },
+    },
+  })
+})