edge-cases

• No browser at all (hosted chat, a scheduled run): use the server's free ad sample for tracked rivals (gooseworks:ads_template_read, mode competitor) and whatever fetch can read. Say once, in the report's "In short", what couldn't be read and what it means for the answer; the paid top-up for it is a decision in the closing message, never a question before the report.
• The browser waits on the founder's approval: tell them in one line what it is for, move on with what you have, and list the page as couldn't-read. Never sit silent.
• A worker stalls for more than a few minutes: say so in one line. A worker is stopped: keep everything it returned or wrote; never throw read work away.
• Facts from earlier saved research (dates, figures, launches): re-check them, or mark them "from earlier research, not re-checked".
• A saved rival that isn't one (a person's account, a namesake, a dead company): drop it, and name it in the report so the founder can fix the list.
• An earlier report on this brand exists: decide on purpose, and say which in one line — in chat and in the report's first "In short" bullet. Newer than 7 days and the ask doesn't say "fresh" or "update": reuse it as the base — re-check only what moves (news, launches, prices, the conversation) and deliver a what-changed report; never re-deliver it untouched. Older, or the founder asks for a fresh look: refresh in full. A report from today is replaced at the same path. Never treat a saved report's facts as checked without re-checking the ones the new report leads with.
• A read lands after the report: rewrite the whole report, top lines included. Never patch a section in.
• Status notes are not questions: one-line notes (the browser heads-up, a stalled worker, a serious risk) are fine before the report; questions are not.