diff --git a/docs/now/2026-08-28-answer-nothing-to-check-before-the-tool-is-missing.md b/docs/now/2026-08-28-answer-nothing-to-check-before-the-tool-is-missing.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d6b95feda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/now/2026-08-28-answer-nothing-to-check-before-the-tool-is-missing.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# NOW -- Answer nothing-to-check before the-tool-is-missing (2026-08-28)
+
+## Answer nothing-to-check before the-tool-is-missing (Refs #2161)
+
+- #2746 ordered the compiler requirement first, so an empty tree reported the wrong diagnosis
+- caught by check_gate_preconditions.py one commit later -- the loud-failure gate doing its job
diff --git a/tools/check_seal_coverage.py b/tools/check_seal_coverage.py
index fe85a708de..4698f8f7b5 100755
--- a/tools/check_seal_coverage.py
+++ b/tools/check_seal_coverage.py
@@ -521,16 +521,27 @@ def main():
     # compiler, and they exercise the ledger, not the gen_hash comparison.
     skip_gen = os.environ.get("T27_SEAL_SKIP_GEN") == "1"
     t27c = None if skip_gen else _find_t27c(ROOT)
+
+    # NOTHING TO CHECK is answered before MISSING TOOL. An empty tree needs no
+    # compiler -- there is nothing to recompute -- and the loud-failure gate
+    # asks this file what it says when handed one. Ordering the compiler check
+    # first made it answer "the compiler is not built", which is true and is
+    # not the diagnosis: the path is wrong. Found by fpga-conformance on the
+    # commit after #2746, which is the gate doing exactly its job.
+    if t27c is None and not skip_gen:
+        import glob as _g
+        total, bad = len(_g.glob(str(ROOT / ".trinity/seals/*.json"))), []
+    else:
+        total, bad = scan(t27c=t27c)
+    if total == 0:
+        print("FAIL: no seals found at all -- the path is wrong, not the tree")
+        return 1
     if t27c is None and not skip_gen:
         print("check_seal_coverage: the compiler is not built, so the four")
         print("  gen_hashes in every seal could not be recomputed. Reporting")
         print("  nothing rather than reporting a pass this run did not earn:")
         print("  build it with `cargo build --release -p t27c` and run again.")
         return 2
-    total, bad = scan(t27c=t27c)
-    if total == 0:
-        print("FAIL: no seals found at all -- the path is wrong, not the tree")
-        return 1
 
     if "--update-baseline" in sys.argv:
         BASELINE.write_text(