diff --git a/changelog.d/mcpl-buffered-drop-count.fixed.md b/changelog.d/mcpl-buffered-drop-count.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..35254640f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/mcpl-buffered-drop-count.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+- The MCPL connection's buffered-event cap counts each pause's drops: the
+  flush line that ends a pause reports that pause's drops, and the drop log
+  speaks at each pause's first drop. Previously the count ran for the
+  connection's whole life.
diff --git a/changelog.d/mcpl-manifest-changed-without-params.fixed.md b/changelog.d/mcpl-manifest-changed-without-params.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..632e7f4c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/mcpl-manifest-changed-without-params.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+- An `mcpl/manifestChanged` notification sent without params is handled like
+  any other: the fetched manifest is applied, its
+  `mcpl:manifest-change-receipt` is emitted naming no domains, and the tools
+  list is refreshed. Previously the handler threw once it had applied the
+  manifest, so the receipt and the refresh were skipped. The receipt's
+  `announcedDomains` now holds only the strings of the announcement's
+  `domains` array.
diff --git a/changelog.d/mcpl-websocket-close-reason.fixed.md b/changelog.d/mcpl-websocket-close-reason.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..45cc6668b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/mcpl-websocket-close-reason.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+- A WebSocket server's close reason no longer reaches the errors a close
+  makes. A WebSocket transport that closes during the handshake now fails the
+  connect with the transport's words and the close code, such as
+  `(websocket closed, code 4001)`, whether or not the server sent a reason,
+  and each request pending when the connection drops is rejected with
+  `reason=websocket closed`. Previously both errors carried the server's text
+  as it wrote it, into the host's log, the `mcpl:server-connect-failed` trace,
+  the `mcpl-down` alert and a tool call's result, and the connect error gave
+  no code. `mcpl:server-closed` already left that text out. A stdio child's
+  exit reads as before.
diff --git a/src/framework.ts b/src/framework.ts
index 5b4f3785f..be23c38de 100644
--- a/src/framework.ts
+++ b/src/framework.ts
@@ -530,6 +530,15 @@ interface AdmittedEnvelope {
   resolved?: { channelId: string } | { error: string; candidates?: string[] };
 }
 
+/** The domains an mcpl/manifestChanged announcement names, for its receipt:
+ *  its `domains` strings, or none when its params are missing or malformed. */
+function announcedDomainsOf(announce: unknown): string[] {
+  const domains = typeof announce === 'object' && announce !== null
+    ? (announce as { domains?: unknown }).domains
+    : undefined;
+  return Array.isArray(domains) ? domains.filter((domain): domain is string => typeof domain === 'string') : [];
+}
+
 /**
  * Whether a stream resumes its turn's request rather than starting one: a
  * budget restart, or a tool-result-guard retry. Such a start takes in no new
@@ -17022,8 +17031,12 @@ export class AgentFramework {
    */
   private async handleManifestChanged(
     connection: McplServerConnection,
-    announce: { revision?: string; domains?: string[] },
+    announce: unknown,
   ): Promise<void> {
+    // The announcement's params are the server's hints, which a notification
+    // may leave out: read the one the receipt reports here, before anything
+    // is applied, so no later step can throw on them.
+    const announcedDomains = announcedDomainsOf(announce);
     const st = this.manifestRefreshState.get(connection.id)
       ?? { inFlight: false, queued: false, lastCompletedAt: 0 };
     this.manifestRefreshState.set(connection.id, st);
@@ -17178,7 +17191,7 @@ export class AgentFramework {
         type: 'mcpl:manifest-change-receipt',
         serverId: connection.id,
         revision: connection.manifestState.lastValidatedRevision,
-        announcedDomains: announce.domains ?? [],
+        announcedDomains,
         impacts,
       });
       this.handleToolsListChanged(connection.id);
@@ -17725,7 +17738,7 @@ export class AgentFramework {
     // §17.3: a manifest-change announcement. Rate-limited re-fetch → diff
     // → §6.7 consequences → one receipt. The announcement itself carries no
     // payload and no authority; everything below acts on FETCHED content.
-    connection.on('manifest-changed', (params: { revision?: string; domains?: string[] }) => {
+    connection.on('manifest-changed', (params: unknown) => {
       void this.handleManifestChanged(connection, params).catch((err) => {
         console.error(`[mcpl] ${connection.id} manifest refresh failed:`, err instanceof Error ? err.message : err);
       });
diff --git a/src/mcpl/server-connection.ts b/src/mcpl/server-connection.ts
index 6c378cdae..fdc4ee4f4 100644
--- a/src/mcpl/server-connection.ts
+++ b/src/mcpl/server-connection.ts
@@ -95,6 +95,20 @@ export function withStderr(error: unknown): string {
   return '. The last of its stderr:' + tail.split('\n').map((line) => `\n  stderr: ${logDetail(line)}`).join('');
 }
 
+/** A transport close's reason, as an error message gives it: the transport's
+ *  own words. A WebSocket peer's close reason is the server's text
+ *  (`reasonFromPeer`), so an error gives the words the transport uses for a
+ *  close without one, as `mcpl:server-closed` leaves that text out. A
+ *  WebSocket close's code, a number, says what the server meant (4001: a
+ *  refused credential), with or without a reason, so each error gives it too:
+ *  a pending request's error has `code=`, and the handshake's adds it for any
+ *  WebSocket close, since a close before the handshake completes reaches no
+ *  'close' event. A stdio child's exit reads as before. */
+function closeReasonText(info: TransportCloseInfo): string {
+  if (info.reasonFromPeer) return 'websocket closed';
+  return info.reason ?? 'unknown';
+}
+
 /** Default per-request timeout in milliseconds (see McplServerConfig.requestTimeoutMs).
  *  A live-but-wedged server (accepts requests, never answers, never closes its
  *  transport) would otherwise freeze the awaiting agent turn forever — no
@@ -334,10 +348,14 @@ export class McplServerConnection extends EventEmitter {
     this.dataPlaneReady = true;
     const pending = this.bufferedEvents;
     this.bufferedEvents = [];
+    // The cap's drops are counted per pause: this flush ends one, so its line
+    // reports that pause's drops, and the next pause counts (and logs) its own.
+    const dropped = this.droppedBufferedEvents;
+    this.droppedBufferedEvents = 0;
     if (pending.length > 200) {
       console.error(
         `[mcpl] ${this.id}: flushing ${pending.length} buffered event(s) synchronously ` +
-        `(long pause backlog${this.droppedBufferedEvents > 0 ? `; ${this.droppedBufferedEvents} dropped at cap` : ''})`,
+        `(long pause backlog${dropped > 0 ? `; ${dropped} dropped at cap` : ''})`,
       );
     }
     this.flushDepth++;
@@ -625,7 +643,8 @@ export class McplServerConnection extends EventEmitter {
         };
         const onClose = (info: TransportCloseInfo) => {
           cleanup();
-          reject(failed(`MCPL server "${config.id}" transport closed before handshake completed (${info.reason ?? 'unknown'})`));
+          const code = transport.kind === 'websocket' && typeof info.code === 'number' ? `, code ${info.code}` : '';
+          reject(failed(`MCPL server "${config.id}" transport closed before handshake completed (${closeReasonText(info)}${code})`));
         };
         const onError = (err: Error) => {
           cleanup();
@@ -1395,7 +1414,7 @@ export class McplServerConnection extends EventEmitter {
           if (pending.timer) clearTimeout(pending.timer);
           pending.reject(
             new Error(
-              `MCPL server "${this.id}" disconnected unexpectedly (code=${info.code ?? 'n/a'}, signal=${info.signal ?? 'n/a'}, reason=${info.reason ?? 'unknown'}) while awaiting ${pending.method} (id=${id})`,
+              `MCPL server "${this.id}" disconnected unexpectedly (code=${info.code ?? 'n/a'}, signal=${info.signal ?? 'n/a'}, reason=${closeReasonText(info)}) while awaiting ${pending.method} (id=${id})`,
             ),
           );
         }
diff --git a/test/mcpl-manifest-changed.test.ts b/test/mcpl-manifest-changed.test.ts
index a5b80ebe6..82e12aec9 100644
--- a/test/mcpl-manifest-changed.test.ts
+++ b/test/mcpl-manifest-changed.test.ts
@@ -211,3 +211,39 @@ test('announcements coalesce: rapid-fire N announces cause one immediate fetch',
   const fetches = connection.events.filter((e) => e.kind === 'fetch').length;
   assert.equal(fetches, 1, `rapid announcements must coalesce (§17.8), got ${fetches} fetches`);
 });
+
+test('an announcement without params is handled like any other: one receipt naming no domains, then the tools-list refresh', async () => {
+  // A notification may carry no params. The announcement's fields are hints
+  // the server sends; the change itself is read from the fetched manifest.
+  const { fw, connection, traces } = makeHarness();
+  let refreshed = 0;
+  fw.handleToolsListChanged = () => { refreshed++; };
+  connection.nextManifest = () => ({
+    version: '0.5',
+    pushEvents: true,
+    channels: { incoming: true },
+    featureSets: { chat: { description: 'chat', uses: ['pushEvents', 'channels.incoming', 'channels.publish'] } },
+  }) as unknown as McplCapabilities;
+
+  await fw.handleManifestChanged(connection, undefined);
+
+  assert.ok(!connection.grant.has('channels.publish'), 'the fetched manifest was applied');
+  const receipts = traces.filter((t) => t.type === 'mcpl:manifest-change-receipt');
+  assert.equal(receipts.length, 1, 'exactly one receipt');
+  assert.deepEqual(receipts[0].announcedDomains, []);
+  assert.equal(refreshed, 1, 'the tools list was refreshed');
+});
+
+test("an announcement's domains are reported only as strings: anything else names none", async () => {
+  const { fw, traces } = makeHarness();
+  const domainsOf = async (announce: unknown) => {
+    fw.manifestRefreshState = new Map(); // each announcement its own refresh, past the floor
+    const before = traces.length;
+    await fw.handleManifestChanged(fw.mcplServerRegistry.getServer('srv'), announce);
+    return traces.slice(before).filter((t) => t.type === 'mcpl:manifest-change-receipt').map((t) => t.announcedDomains);
+  };
+  assert.deepEqual(await domainsOf({ domains: 'capabilities' }), [[]]);
+  assert.deepEqual(await domainsOf({ domains: ['capabilities', 7, null, 'featureSets'] }), [['capabilities', 'featureSets']]);
+  assert.deepEqual(await domainsOf('capabilities'), [[]]);
+  assert.deepEqual(await domainsOf(null), [[]], 'params: null, as a server may send them');
+});
diff --git a/test/mcpl-ws-transport.test.ts b/test/mcpl-ws-transport.test.ts
index cbcb3b0e5..8e99befa7 100644
--- a/test/mcpl-ws-transport.test.ts
+++ b/test/mcpl-ws-transport.test.ts
@@ -312,3 +312,110 @@ test("reconnectAfterFailure() on a live transport reports byHost: true and still
     wss.close();
   }
 });
+
+/** A WebSocket server that closes each socket with `code` and the server's own
+ *  close reason `reason` when it receives `method`, and otherwise answers as
+ *  startMockMcplWsServer does. */
+function startClosingWsServer(method: string, code: number, reason: string) {
+  const wss = startMockMcplWsServer((ws) => {
+    ws.on('message', (data) => {
+      const msg = JSON.parse(String(data)) as { method?: string };
+      if (msg.method === method) ws.close(code, reason);
+    });
+  });
+  return wss;
+}
+
+// A close reason the server writes, made to forge a second host log line.
+const PEER_REASON = 'token expired\n[mcpl] editor: forged line';
+
+test("a server's close reason during the handshake stays out of the connect error, which gives the transport's words and the close code", async () => {
+  const wss = startClosingWsServer('initialize', 4001, PEER_REASON);
+  await waitListening(wss);
+  try {
+    await assert.rejects(
+      withDeadline(McplServerConnection.connect({ id: 'editor', url: wsUrl(wss) }, HOST_CAPS), 10_000, 'the connect to fail'),
+      (error: Error) => {
+        assert.equal(error.message, 'MCPL server "editor" transport closed before handshake completed (websocket closed, code 4001)');
+        return true;
+      },
+    );
+  } finally {
+    wss.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test('a server that closes during the handshake with a code and no reason gets the same connect error, the code included', async () => {
+  // A refused credential can come as 4001 alone: the code is what tells it
+  // from another close, whether or not the server sent words with it.
+  const wss = startClosingWsServer('initialize', 4001, '');
+  await waitListening(wss);
+  try {
+    await assert.rejects(
+      withDeadline(McplServerConnection.connect({ id: 'editor', url: wsUrl(wss) }, HOST_CAPS), 10_000, 'the connect to fail'),
+      (error: Error) => {
+        assert.equal(error.message, 'MCPL server "editor" transport closed before handshake completed (websocket closed, code 4001)');
+        return true;
+      },
+    );
+  } finally {
+    wss.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test("a server's close reason stays out of the error a pending request is rejected with", async () => {
+  const wss = startClosingWsServer('tools/call', 4001, PEER_REASON);
+  await waitListening(wss);
+  let conn: McplServerConnection | undefined;
+  try {
+    conn = await McplServerConnection.connect({ id: 'editor', url: wsUrl(wss) }, HOST_CAPS);
+    conn.ready();
+    await assert.rejects(
+      withDeadline(conn.sendToolsCall('echo', { text: 'hello' }), 10_000, 'the call to be rejected'),
+      (error: Error) => {
+        assert.match(error.message, /^MCPL server "editor" disconnected unexpectedly \(code=4001, signal=n\/a, reason=websocket closed\) while awaiting tools\/call \(id=\d+\)$/);
+        return true;
+      },
+    );
+  } finally {
+    await conn?.close();
+    wss.close();
+  }
+});
+
+test('the buffered-event cap counts the drops of each pause: a later pause reports its own, and logs its first drop', async () => {
+  // The second pause runs through a control-only flush and a second pause of
+  // the data plane before ready() ends it, and its count covers all of it.
+  const wss = startMockMcplWsServer();
+  await waitListening(wss);
+  const conn = await McplServerConnection.connect({ id: 'editor', url: wsUrl(wss) }, HOST_CAPS);
+  const lines: string[] = [];
+  const consoleError = console.error;
+  console.error = (...args: unknown[]) => { lines.push(args.map(String).join(' ')); };
+  try {
+    conn.ready();
+    // A responder-less data-plane event while the data plane is paused is
+    // buffered, and past the cap (1000) the oldest such event is dropped.
+    const pauseAndBuffer = (count: number) => {
+      conn.pauseDataPlane();
+      for (let i = 0; i < count; i++) conn.emit('test-data-event', { i });
+    };
+    pauseAndBuffer(1150);
+    conn.ready();
+    pauseAndBuffer(1050);
+    // Within one pause, neither a control-only flush (a quiesce's) nor
+    // pausing the paused data plane again starts the count over.
+    conn.readyControlPlane();
+    conn.pauseDataPlane();
+    for (let i = 0; i < 25; i++) conn.emit('test-data-event', { late: i });
+    conn.ready();
+  } finally {
+    console.error = consoleError;
+    await conn.close();
+    wss.close();
+  }
+  const flushes = lines.filter((line) => line.includes('buffered event(s) synchronously'));
+  assert.deepEqual(flushes.map((line) => /; (\d+) dropped at cap\)$/.exec(line)?.[1]), ['150', '75']);
+  const dropLogs = lines.filter((line) => line.includes('buffered-event cap'));
+  assert.deepEqual(dropLogs.map((line) => /dropped (\d+) responder-less/.exec(line)?.[1]), ['1', '101', '1']);
+});