diff --git a/tests/test_mcp_tool_systems.py b/tests/test_mcp_tool_systems.py
index 45e3a32..97f26e2 100644
--- a/tests/test_mcp_tool_systems.py
+++ b/tests/test_mcp_tool_systems.py
@@ -113,6 +113,15 @@ async def test_untagged_hint_escalates_in_a_mature_zero_systems_project():
          patch("scribe.mcp.tools.systems.notes_svc") as notes:
         svc.list_systems = AsyncMock(return_value=[])
         notes.list_notes = AsyncMock(return_value=(recent, 282))
+        # The standard names come from the GLOBAL catalog now (milestone 307),
+        # not a module constant — so the ask reads them through the service.
+        # That the SEEDED vocabulary is these eight is migration 0087's
+        # business, asserted against a real database in the inception
+        # integration test; what belongs here is that whatever the catalog
+        # holds reaches the ask verbatim.
+        svc.standard_systems = AsyncMock(return_value=[
+            ("CI & Release", "..."), ("Auth & Access", "..."),
+        ])
         hint = await untagged_systems_hint(1, 5)
     assert "282 records" in hint
     assert "Fix scrape retry backoff" in hint      # the project's own evidence
@@ -126,6 +135,25 @@ async def test_untagged_hint_escalates_in_a_mature_zero_systems_project():
     assert "no Systems yet" not in hint
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_bootstrap_ask_still_asks_when_the_catalog_is_unreachable():
+    """The standard names are an AID to the question, not the question. If the
+    catalog read fails (or an install has an empty one), the ask must still
+    carry the project's evidence and demand the same deliverable — degrading to
+    a weaker nudge is acceptable, going silent is not."""
+    from scribe.mcp.tools.systems import untagged_systems_hint
+    recent = [fake_note(title="Fix scrape retry backoff")]
+    with patch("scribe.mcp.tools.systems.systems_svc") as svc, \
+         patch("scribe.mcp.tools.systems.notes_svc") as notes:
+        svc.list_systems = AsyncMock(return_value=[])
+        notes.list_notes = AsyncMock(return_value=(recent, 282))
+        svc.standard_systems = AsyncMock(side_effect=RuntimeError("db down"))
+        hint = await untagged_systems_hint(1, 5)
+    assert hint is not None
+    assert "282 records" in hint and "create_system" in hint
+    assert "3-6" in hint and "without asking permission" in hint
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_bootstrap_ask_stays_quiet_below_threshold_and_fails_open():
     from scribe.mcp.tools import systems as tools