diff --git a/lib/ble/ble_engine.dart b/lib/ble/ble_engine.dart
index f6184d9..59c9917 100644
--- a/lib/ble/ble_engine.dart
+++ b/lib/ble/ble_engine.dart
@@ -155,6 +155,33 @@ bool burstPacketCountMatches({
 }) =>
     expectedPacketCount == actualBurstPacketCount + droppedThisBurst;
 
+/// Honest burst-completeness signal for TELEMETRY ONLY — this NEVER gates the
+/// commit/ACK decision (see the log-only call site).
+///
+/// [receivedTrafficCount] is every frame we actually received this burst, ALL
+/// types (historical R24 data + interleaved console/event/unknown) — i.e.
+/// [BurstStats.totalTrafficPacketCount], NOT the banked historical subset. The
+/// band's [expectedPacketCount] (num_packets) likewise counts every frame it
+/// transmitted, so comparing the two all-types totals is type-agnostic and
+/// interleaving-immune: benign console/event frames riding along cannot fake a
+/// shortfall the way comparing against the R24-only subset did.
+///
+/// [droppedThisBurst] (RecordGate plausibility rejections this burst) is added
+/// back because the band counted those frames but they never entered
+/// [receivedTrafficCount]. A POSITIVE result is frames the band counted that we
+/// did NOT count as valid received traffic — i.e. missing OR corrupted traffic
+/// (would-flag / potential loss): CRC-failed frames also never enter
+/// [receivedTrafficCount], so a positive shortfall cannot by itself prove a
+/// frame never arrived. Zero is complete; negative just means we tallied more
+/// than expected (retried/duplicate frames), which is not loss.
+@visibleForTesting
+int burstPacketShortfall({
+  required int expectedPacketCount,
+  required int receivedTrafficCount,
+  int droppedThisBurst = 0,
+}) =>
+    expectedPacketCount - (receivedTrafficCount + droppedThisBurst);
+
 /// Fired for every LIVE high-rate frame (0x28/0x2B/0x33). These are EPHEMERAL —
 /// they are NOT persisted to raw_records (that bloated storage ~50x and stalled
 /// derivation). The caller routes them to an in-memory sink for the live UI /
@@ -2596,6 +2623,20 @@ class BleEngine {
             expectedPacketCount: expected,
             droppedThisBurst: droppedThisBurst,
           );
+      // Honest, LOG-ONLY completeness signal (never gates the ACK). Compares
+      // num_packets against the ALL-TYPES received total (currentBurstTrafficCount),
+      // not the banked R24 subset — see burstPacketShortfall. Only a POSITIVE
+      // shortfall means frames the band counted that we did not count as valid
+      // received traffic (missing OR CRC-corrupted — potential loss); this is
+      // the signal we want visible in telemetry BEFORE ever wiring a FAIL gate
+      // (which needs its own design + field validation to avoid re-flood).
+      final shortfall = expected == null
+          ? 0
+          : burstPacketShortfall(
+              expectedPacketCount: expected,
+              receivedTrafficCount: d.currentBurstTrafficCount,
+              droppedThisBurst: droppedThisBurst,
+            );
       // ADVISORY ONLY, never a gate: `expectedPacketCount`'s exact semantics
       // (which transport packet types the band itself counts — command
       // responses interleaved with the burst? retried/duplicate frames?) are
@@ -2635,11 +2676,27 @@ class BleEngine {
             'traffic_burst_packets': d.currentBurstTrafficCount,
             'burst_validation_failures': d.consecutiveValidationFailures,
             'burst_breakdown': d.currentBurstBreakdown,
+            'burst_shortfall': shortfall,
           },
         ));
       } else {
         _burstMismatchStreak = 0;
       }
+      // Would-flag: the correct-signal completeness diagnostic. LOG-ONLY — the
+      // commit + verbatim-token ACK below are unchanged. A positive shortfall
+      // is the honest missing/corrupted-traffic telemetry we want to watch
+      // before a later, field-validated FAIL gate ever acts on it.
+      if (shortfall > 0) {
+        _log(
+          '[SYNC] burst completeness would-flag (LOG-ONLY, commit+ACK '
+          'unchanged): expected=$expected '
+          'received=${d.currentBurstTrafficCount} '
+          'dropped_this_burst=$droppedThisBurst shortfall=$shortfall '
+          '(all-types received total — frames the band counted that we did '
+          'not; missing or CRC-corrupted, potential loss; groundwork for a '
+          'future FAIL gate, NOT gating today)',
+        );
+      }
       final r = d.bufferedRecTsRange;
       final droppedThisBurstForLog = droppedThisBurst;
       final hadDurableRows =
diff --git a/test/ble_engine_test.dart b/test/ble_engine_test.dart
index 6acce80..ba961d7 100644
--- a/test/ble_engine_test.dart
+++ b/test/ble_engine_test.dart
@@ -122,6 +122,103 @@ void main() {
     });
   });
 
+  group('burst completeness shortfall (log-only would-flag signal)', () {
+    test('no shortfall when all-types received total equals num_packets', () {
+      // Band sent 49 frames (30 R24 + 17 console + 2 event); we received all.
+      final received = countBurstTrafficPackets(
+        dataPacketCountsByRevision: const {24: 30},
+        consoleCount: 17,
+        eventCount: 2,
+      );
+      expect(
+        burstPacketShortfall(
+          expectedPacketCount: 49,
+          receivedTrafficCount: received,
+        ),
+        0,
+      );
+    });
+
+    test(
+      'interleaved console/event frames do NOT false-positive: comparing '
+      'against the all-types received total (not the banked R24 subset) '
+      'keeps shortfall at zero',
+      () {
+        final received = countBurstTrafficPackets(
+          dataPacketCountsByRevision: const {24: 15},
+          consoleCount: 37,
+          eventCount: 2,
+        );
+        // Banked R24 subset alone is 15 — comparing THAT to num_packets=54
+        // would fabricate a 39-frame "loss". The correct all-types total is 54.
+        expect(received, 54);
+        expect(
+          burstPacketShortfall(
+            expectedPacketCount: 54,
+            receivedTrafficCount: received,
+          ),
+          0,
+        );
+      },
+    );
+
+    test(
+        'positive shortfall flags missing-or-corrupted traffic (band counted '
+        'more than we did)', () {
+      final received = countBurstTrafficPackets(
+        dataPacketCountsByRevision: const {24: 20},
+        consoleCount: 3,
+      );
+      // Band reported 30, we counted 23 all-types, nothing gate-dropped → 7
+      // frames the band sent that we did not count (never arrived or CRC-failed).
+      expect(
+        burstPacketShortfall(
+          expectedPacketCount: 30,
+          receivedTrafficCount: received,
+        ),
+        7,
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('gate-dropped records are added back so they never read as loss', () {
+      // 26 all-types received, 24 legitimately gate-dropped, band expected 50 →
+      // fully explained, no true loss.
+      expect(
+        burstPacketShortfall(
+          expectedPacketCount: 50,
+          receivedTrafficCount: 26,
+          droppedThisBurst: 24,
+        ),
+        0,
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('negative shortfall (retries/dupes counted extra) is not loss', () {
+      expect(
+        burstPacketShortfall(
+          expectedPacketCount: 26,
+          receivedTrafficCount: 28,
+        ),
+        lessThan(0),
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('shortfall==0 is exactly burstPacketCountMatches', () {
+      const expected = 50, received = 26, dropped = 24;
+      final matches = burstPacketCountMatches(
+        expectedPacketCount: expected,
+        actualBurstPacketCount: received,
+        droppedThisBurst: dropped,
+      );
+      final shortfall = burstPacketShortfall(
+        expectedPacketCount: expected,
+        receivedTrafficCount: received,
+        droppedThisBurst: dropped,
+      );
+      expect(matches, (shortfall == 0));
+    });
+  });
+
   group('maintenance traffic gating', () {
     test('maintenance traffic is paused while offload is active', () {
       expect(shouldPauseMaintenanceTraffic(offloadActive: true), isTrue);