diff --git a/tests/test_cited_record_status.py b/tests/test_cited_record_status.py
index 023d28f..4474414 100644
--- a/tests/test_cited_record_status.py
+++ b/tests/test_cited_record_status.py
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ def _sessions(results: list, counter: list[int], seen_sql: list | None = None):
     the ORDER of `results` pins the order of the queries — which is what makes
     the query-count assertion meaningful rather than incidental.
 
+    Counts rows are 4-tuples — (milestone_id, status, count, max(updated_at)) —
+    because the counts query also carries the touched-at that `last_touched_at`
+    is computed from. A 3-tuple unpacks as a ValueError, not as a wrong answer.
+
     `seen_sql` collects the rendered statements. The ordering these surfaces
     have to agree on lives in an ORDER BY, which no amount of feeding rows to a
     mock can exercise — a stand-in hands back whatever order the test chose.
@@ -116,7 +120,7 @@ async def test_a_milestone_row_names_its_next_open_step():
     """The listing that says "8 of 9" now says WHICH one, in the same read."""
     rows = await _summaries(
         [_milestone_row(409)],
-        [(409, "done", 8), (409, "todo", 1)],
+        [(409, "done", 8, None), (409, "todo", 1, None)],
         [(409, 4154, "Step 8 — a cited record carries its status", "todo")],
     )
     assert rows[5][0]["next_step"] == {
@@ -134,7 +138,7 @@ async def test_a_finished_plan_names_no_next_step_rather_than_omitting_the_key()
     test for its absence to learn the answer, and a reader who forgets is back
     to guessing — which is the failure this step exists for.
     """
-    rows = await _summaries([_milestone_row(416)], [(416, "done", 9)], [])
+    rows = await _summaries([_milestone_row(416)], [(416, "done", 9, None)], [])
     assert rows[5][0]["next_step"] is None
     assert "next_step" in rows[5][0]
 
@@ -149,7 +153,7 @@ async def test_the_earliest_open_step_wins_not_the_earliest_step():
     """
     rows = await _summaries(
         [_milestone_row(409)],
-        [(409, "done", 2), (409, "todo", 2)],
+        [(409, "done", 2, None), (409, "todo", 2, None)],
         # The query filters to open steps, so the closed ones never appear —
         # this asserts the ORDER of what does: earliest open, not last written.
         [(409, 4015, "Step 6", "in_progress"), (409, 4154, "Step 8", "todo")],
@@ -169,7 +173,7 @@ async def test_the_batch_does_not_fan_out_per_milestone():
     counter = [0]
     await _summaries(
         [_milestone_row(i) for i in range(40)],
-        [(i, "todo", 1) for i in range(40)],
+        [(i, "todo", 1, None) for i in range(40)],
         [(i, 1000 + i, f"S{i}", "todo") for i in range(40)],
         counter=counter,
     )
@@ -190,7 +194,7 @@ async def test_both_step_queries_take_the_same_visibility_clause():
         seen.append(uid)
         return true()
 
-    results = [[_milestone_row(409)], [(409, "todo", 1)], [(409, 1, "S", "todo")]]
+    results = [[_milestone_row(409)], [(409, "todo", 1, None)], [(409, 1, "S", "todo")]]
     with patch.object(ms, "async_session", _sessions(results, [0])), \
          patch.object(ms.access_svc, "readable_notes_clause", _clause):
         await ms.get_project_milestone_summaries(7, [5])
@@ -222,7 +226,7 @@ async def test_the_listing_and_placement_agree_on_what_open_means():
     listing_sql: list = []
     rows = await _summaries(
         [_milestone_row(409)],
-        [(409, "done", 2), (409, "todo", 2)],
+        [(409, "done", 2, None), (409, "todo", 2, None)],
         [(409, s.id, s.title, s.status) for s in steps if s.status in ms.OPEN_STEP_STATUSES],
         seen_sql=listing_sql,
     )