@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ If a cross-repo behavior changed but upstream is not updated yet, document the g
 
 - The browse UI is a **thin client**: fetch catalog JSON from the active instance, render rows client-side, build RSS links from each entry's `path`.
 - Do not reintroduce `bin/data-update`, `src/data/configs.json`, or a `html2rss-configs` gem dependency in this repo.
-- Wire shape v1 is defined in `html2rss-web` request specs and OpenAPI (`catalog_version`, `parameters.schema`, `parameters.defaults`).
+- Wire shape v2 is defined in `html2rss-web` request specs and OpenAPI (`catalog_version: 2`, required `last_result`, `meta.starters`). The browse client supports **`[2]` only** and fails closed on v1.
 - When the instance is unreachable or returns `404` with `catalog_disabled`, show an error state — no static fallback list.
 - **Wire parsing only in** `src/components/feed-directory/adapters/catalog-api.ts`. Domain modules must not parse API envelopes or wire rows.
 - See `CONTEXT.md` for glossary (`FeedDirectoryEntry`, catalog seam, instance persistence contract).
 
@@ -18,16 +18,30 @@ Normalized domain type for one catalog row after wire parsing. Required fields o
 | `title`, `summary`, `topics`           | Directory metadata from YAML                         |
 | `channelUrl`, `language`               | Channel metadata                                     |
 | `parameterSchema`, `parameterDefaults` | Dynamic feed parameters                              |
+| `lastResult`                           | Instance last-known scrape outcome (see below)       |
+
+## LastResult
+
+Required ambient signal from catalog_version **2**. Closed set of `state` values only — do not invent green/yellow/red domain enums; map state to UI chrome in `ui/`.
+
+| `state`   | Meaning                                                      | Browse UX                                    |
+| --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------- |
+| `ok`      | Last directory-defaults scrape succeeded                     | Ambient “Last scrape ok” indicator           |
+| `empty`   | Last scrape returned no items                                | Demote in sort; warn before subscribe; badge |
+| `error`   | Last scrape failed                                           | Demote in sort; warn before subscribe; badge |
+| `unknown` | Never scraped with directory defaults on this process (cold) | Neutral — no badge; sorts with non-failing   |
+
+Wire fields: `code` (string \| null), `at` (ISO timestamp \| null). Missing or invalid `last_result` on a row fails closed (row dropped).
 
 ## Catalog seam
 
 The boundary between the instance API and domain logic:
 
-- **Wire:** `GET /api/v1/configs` envelope (`success`, `data.configs`, `meta.catalog_version`)
-- **Adapter:** `adapters/catalog-api.ts` — fetch, envelope validation, row validation, version gate (supported: `[1]`)
+- **Wire:** `GET /api/v1/configs` envelope (`success`, `data.configs`, `meta.catalog_version`, `meta.starters`)
+- **Adapter:** `adapters/catalog-api.ts` — fetch, envelope validation, row validation, version gate (supported: **`[2]` only**; v1 fail closed)
 - **Domain:** `FeedDirectoryEntry[]` consumed by filters, OPML build, and render
 
-Wire parsing must stay in `adapters/catalog-api.ts` only.
+Wire parsing must stay in `adapters/catalog-api.ts` only. `meta.starters` is parsed for forward compatibility; browse does not render a featured strip today.
 
 ## Instance persistence contract
 
 
@@ -17,26 +17,63 @@ const validEnvelope = {
         channel: { url: 'https://www.anthropic.com/news', language: 'en' },
         directory: { title: 'Anthropic — News', summary: 'Announcements.', topics: ['news'] },
         parameters: { schema: {}, defaults: {} },
+        last_result: { state: 'ok', code: null, at: '2026-08-29T08:00:00Z' },
       },
       {
         id: 'bbc.co.uk/available_episodes',
         path: '/bbc.co.uk/available_episodes.rss',
         channel: { url: 'https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/%<id>s/episodes/player', language: 'en-GB' },
         directory: { title: 'BBC Sounds — Programme episodes', summary: 'Episodes.', topics: ['media'] },
         parameters: { schema: { id: { type: 'string' } }, defaults: { id: 'b006wkfp' } },
+        last_result: { state: 'unknown', code: null, at: null },
+      },
+      {
+        id: 'example.com/broken-scrape',
+        path: '/example.com/broken-scrape.rss',
+        channel: { url: 'https://example.com/broken', language: 'en' },
+        directory: { title: 'Broken', summary: '', topics: [] },
+        parameters: { schema: {}, defaults: {} },
+        last_result: { state: 'error', code: 'EXTRACTION_EMPTY', at: '2026-08-29T09:00:00Z' },
+      },
+      {
+        id: 'example.com/empty-scrape',
+        path: '/example.com/empty-scrape.rss',
+        channel: { url: 'https://example.com/empty', language: 'en' },
+        directory: { title: 'Empty', summary: '', topics: [] },
+        parameters: { schema: {}, defaults: {} },
+        last_result: { state: 'empty', code: 'EXTRACTION_EMPTY', at: '2026-08-29T09:30:00Z' },
       },
       { id: 'broken' },
+      {
+        id: 'missing.last/result',
+        path: '/missing.last/result.rss',
+        channel: { url: 'https://missing.example/', language: 'en' },
+        directory: { title: 'Missing last_result', summary: '', topics: [] },
+        parameters: { schema: {}, defaults: {} },
+      },
+      {
+        id: 'invalid.last/result',
+        path: '/invalid.last/result.rss',
+        channel: { url: 'https://invalid.example/', language: 'en' },
+        directory: { title: 'Invalid last_result', summary: '', topics: [] },
+        parameters: { schema: {}, defaults: {} },
+        last_result: { state: 'green', code: null, at: null },
+      },
     ],
   },
-  meta: { total: 2, catalog_version: 1 },
+  meta: {
+    total: 4,
+    catalog_version: 2,
+    starters: ['anthropic.com/news', 'bbc.co.uk/available_episodes'],
+  },
 };
 
 function mockFetch(response: Partial<Response> & Pick<Response, 'status'>): typeof fetch {
   return (async () => response) as typeof fetch;
 }
 
 describe('fetchCatalogResponse', () => {
-  it('maps valid envelope rows and drops invalid ones', async () => {
+  it('maps valid v2 envelope rows and drops invalid ones', async () => {
     const fetchImpl = mockFetch({
       ok: true,
       status: 200,
@@ -45,16 +82,32 @@ describe('fetchCatalogResponse', () => {
 
     const { entries, meta } = await fetchCatalogResponse('https://example.test/', fetchImpl);
 
-    expect(entries).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(entries).toHaveLength(4);
     expect(entries[0]).toMatchObject({
       id: 'anthropic.com/news',
       siteKey: 'anthropic.com',
       title: 'Anthropic — News',
       topics: ['news'],
       language: 'en',
+      lastResult: { state: 'ok', code: null, at: '2026-08-29T08:00:00Z' },
     });
     expect(entries[1]?.parameterDefaults).toEqual({ id: 'b006wkfp' });
-    expect(meta).toEqual({ total: 2, catalogVersion: 1 });
+    expect(entries[1]?.lastResult).toEqual({ state: 'unknown', code: null, at: null });
+    expect(entries[2]?.lastResult).toEqual({
+      state: 'error',
+      code: 'EXTRACTION_EMPTY',
+      at: '2026-08-29T09:00:00Z',
+    });
+    expect(entries[3]?.lastResult).toEqual({
+      state: 'empty',
+      code: 'EXTRACTION_EMPTY',
+      at: '2026-08-29T09:30:00Z',
+    });
+    expect(meta).toEqual({
+      total: 4,
+      catalogVersion: 2,
+      starters: ['anthropic.com/news', 'bbc.co.uk/available_episodes'],
+    });
   });
 
   it('throws disabled on 404', async () => {
@@ -75,13 +128,27 @@ describe('fetchCatalogResponse', () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it('throws unsupported version for catalog_version 1 (fail closed)', async () => {
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch({
+      ok: true,
+      status: 200,
+      json: async () => ({
+        ...validEnvelope,
+        meta: { total: 3, catalog_version: 1, starters: [] },
+      }),
+    } as Response);
+    await expect(fetchCatalogResponse('https://example.test/', fetchImpl)).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(
+      CatalogUnsupportedVersionError
+    );
+  });
+
   it('throws unsupported version when catalog_version is not supported', async () => {
     const fetchImpl = mockFetch({
       ok: true,
       status: 200,
       json: async () => ({
         ...validEnvelope,
-        meta: { total: 2, catalog_version: 99 },
+        meta: { total: 3, catalog_version: 99, starters: [] },
       }),
     } as Response);
     await expect(fetchCatalogResponse('https://example.test/', fetchImpl)).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(
 
@@ -1,20 +1,22 @@
 import { siteKeyFromId } from '../domain/entry';
-import type { CatalogLoadError, FeedDirectoryEntry } from '../domain/types';
+import { isLastResultState } from '../domain/last-result';
+import type { CatalogLoadError, FeedDirectoryEntry, LastResult } from '../domain/types';
 
-const SUPPORTED_CATALOG_VERSIONS = [1] as const;
+const SUPPORTED_CATALOG_VERSIONS = [2] as const;
 
 interface CatalogWireEntry {
   id?: unknown;
   path?: unknown;
   channel?: { url?: unknown; language?: unknown };
   directory?: { title?: unknown; summary?: unknown; topics?: unknown };
   parameters?: { schema?: unknown; defaults?: unknown };
+  last_result?: unknown;
 }
 
 interface CatalogEnvelope {
   success?: unknown;
   data?: { configs?: unknown };
-  meta?: { total?: unknown; catalog_version?: unknown };
+  meta?: { total?: unknown; catalog_version?: unknown; starters?: unknown };
 }
 
 export class CatalogDisabledError extends Error {
@@ -80,6 +82,24 @@ function parseParameterDefaults(value: unknown): Readonly<Record<string, string>
   return defaults;
 }
 
+/** Fail closed: missing or invalid last_result rejects the row. */
+function parseLastResult(value: unknown): LastResult | null {
+  if (!isRecord(value)) return null;
+  if (!isLastResultState(value.state)) return null;
+
+  const code = value.code;
+  if (!(code === null || typeof code === 'string')) return null;
+
+  const at = value.at;
+  if (!(at === null || typeof at === 'string')) return null;
+
+  return {
+    state: value.state,
+    code: code === null || code.trim() === '' ? null : code,
+    at: at === null || at.trim() === '' ? null : at,
+  };
+}
+
 function parseCatalogEntries(configs: unknown): FeedDirectoryEntry[] {
   if (!Array.isArray(configs)) return [];
 
@@ -90,7 +110,8 @@ function parseCatalogEntries(configs: unknown): FeedDirectoryEntry[] {
     const id = asString(wire.id);
     const path = asString(wire.path);
     const channelUrl = asString(wire.channel?.url);
-    if (!id || !path || !channelUrl) continue;
+    const lastResult = parseLastResult(wire.last_result);
+    if (!id || !path || !channelUrl || !lastResult) continue;
 
     entries.push({
       id,
@@ -103,6 +124,7 @@ function parseCatalogEntries(configs: unknown): FeedDirectoryEntry[] {
       language: asString(wire.channel?.language) ?? '',
       parameterSchema: parseParameterSchema(wire.parameters?.schema),
       parameterDefaults: parseParameterDefaults(wire.parameters?.defaults),
+      lastResult,
     });
   }
 
@@ -120,9 +142,15 @@ function parseCatalogVersion(meta: CatalogEnvelope['meta']): number {
   return version;
 }
 
+export interface CatalogMeta {
+  total: number;
+  catalogVersion: number;
+  starters: readonly string[];
+}
+
 function parseCatalogEnvelope(payload: unknown): {
   entries: FeedDirectoryEntry[];
-  meta: { total: number; catalogVersion: number };
+  meta: CatalogMeta;
 } {
   if (!isRecord(payload)) {
     throw new CatalogInvalidEnvelopeError();
@@ -137,17 +165,18 @@ function parseCatalogEnvelope(payload: unknown): {
   const catalogVersion = parseCatalogVersion(envelope.meta);
   const totalRaw = envelope.meta?.total;
   const total = typeof totalRaw === 'number' && Number.isFinite(totalRaw) ? totalRaw : entries.length;
+  const starters = parseStringArray(envelope.meta?.starters);
 
   return {
     entries,
-    meta: { total, catalogVersion },
+    meta: { total, catalogVersion, starters },
   };
 }
 
 export async function fetchCatalogResponse(
   instanceUrl: string,
   fetchImpl: typeof fetch = fetch
-): Promise<{ entries: FeedDirectoryEntry[]; meta: { total: number; catalogVersion: number } }> {
+): Promise<{ entries: FeedDirectoryEntry[]; meta: CatalogMeta }> {
   const catalogUrl = new URL('/api/v1/configs', instanceUrl).toString();
 
   let response: Response;
 
@@ -8,9 +8,11 @@ import {
 } from '../adapters/browser-storage';
 import { downloadOpml } from '../adapters/browser-download';
 import { buildFeedUrl } from '../domain/feed-url';
+import { isFailingLastResult } from '../domain/last-result';
 import { buildOpmlDocument } from '../domain/opml';
 import { normalizeFilterLanguage } from '../domain/language';
 import { debounce } from '../lib/debounce';
+import type { FeedDirectoryEntry } from '../domain/types';
 import { renderFeedDirectory } from '../ui/render';
 import {
   applyFilterPatch,
@@ -182,6 +184,15 @@ export class FeedDirectoryApp {
         this.render();
         break;
       }
+      case 'open-feed': {
+        const entryId = actionEl.dataset.entryId;
+        const entry = this.findEntry(entryId);
+        if (!entry) return;
+        if (isFailingLastResult(entry.lastResult) && !this.confirmFailingSubscribe(entry)) {
+          event.preventDefault();
+        }
+        break;
+      }
       case 'copy-feed':
         void this.copyFeed(actionEl.dataset.entryId);
         break;
@@ -193,6 +204,19 @@ export class FeedDirectoryApp {
     }
   }
 
+  private findEntry(entryId: string | undefined): FeedDirectoryEntry | undefined {
+    if (!entryId) return undefined;
+    return this.state.entries.find((item) => item.id === entryId);
+  }
+
+  private confirmFailingSubscribe(entry: FeedDirectoryEntry): boolean {
+    const detail =
+      entry.lastResult.state === 'empty'
+        ? 'The last known scrape on this instance returned no items.'
+        : 'The last known scrape on this instance failed.';
+    return window.confirm(`${detail} Feeds that recently failed often fail again. Subscribe anyway?`);
+  }
+
   private async applyInstance(): Promise<void> {
     const normalized = normalizeInstanceUrl(this.state.instanceDraft);
     if (!normalized) {
@@ -217,9 +241,9 @@ export class FeedDirectoryApp {
   }
 
   private async copyFeed(entryId: string | undefined): Promise<void> {
-    if (!entryId) return;
-    const entry = this.state.entries.find((item) => item.id === entryId);
-    if (!entry) return;
+    const entry = this.findEntry(entryId);
+    if (!entry || !entryId) return;
+    if (isFailingLastResult(entry.lastResult) && !this.confirmFailingSubscribe(entry)) return;
 
     const url = buildFeedUrl(this.state.instanceUrl, entry, this.state.parametersById[entryId] ?? {});
     try {
@@ -242,6 +266,18 @@ export class FeedDirectoryApp {
   private exportOpml(): void {
     const { filteredEntries } = selectPagedEntries(this.state);
     if (filteredEntries.length === 0) return;
+
+    const failingCount = filteredEntries.filter((entry) => isFailingLastResult(entry.lastResult)).length;
+    if (failingCount > 0) {
+      const detail =
+        failingCount === 1
+          ? '1 feed in this export had an empty or failed last scrape on this instance.'
+          : `${failingCount} feeds in this export had an empty or failed last scrape on this instance.`;
+      if (!window.confirm(`${detail} Feeds that recently failed often fail again. Export anyway?`)) {
+        return;
+      }
+    }
+
     const opml = buildOpmlDocument(this.state.instanceUrl, filteredEntries, this.state.parametersById);
     downloadOpml(opml);
   }
 
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ const entry = (id: string, title: string): FeedDirectoryEntry => ({
   language: '',
   parameterSchema: {},
   parameterDefaults: {},
+  lastResult: { state: 'unknown', code: null, at: null },
 });
 
 describe('applyFilterPatch', () => {