diff --git a/docs/api/openapi.yaml b/docs/api/openapi.yaml
index 6ba15e063..b674ba177 100644
--- a/docs/api/openapi.yaml
+++ b/docs/api/openapi.yaml
@@ -64323,9 +64323,12 @@ components:
             - error_reauth
             - disconnected
             - parked
-          description: Last recorded ledger state for this provider. `connected` is also the value a user who has never synced
-            sees — the ledger row is created on the first attempt, and its absence reads as `connected`, not as an
-            error.
+            - unknown
+          description: "Last recorded ledger state for this provider. `unknown` (added v1.38.19) is what a user who has never
+            synced sees: the ledger row is created on the first attempt, and its absence is no claim about the
+            connection in either direction — it used to read as `connected`, which is why a client must never treat this
+            field as liveness. Read `syncHealth.verdict` for that, and treat `unknown` as `disconnected` anywhere a
+            ledger state is painted."
         lastSuccessAt:
           anyOf:
             - type: string
@@ -65318,9 +65321,12 @@ components:
             - error_reauth
             - disconnected
             - parked
-          description: Last recorded ledger state for this provider. `connected` is also the value a user who has never synced
-            sees — the ledger row is created on the first attempt, and its absence reads as `connected`, not as an
-            error.
+            - unknown
+          description: "Last recorded ledger state for this provider. `unknown` (added v1.38.19) is what a user who has never
+            synced sees: the ledger row is created on the first attempt, and its absence is no claim about the
+            connection in either direction — it used to read as `connected`, which is why a client must never treat this
+            field as liveness. Read `syncHealth.verdict` for that, and treat `unknown` as `disconnected` anywhere a
+            ledger state is painted."
         lastSuccessAt:
           anyOf:
             - type: string
@@ -65724,9 +65730,12 @@ components:
             - error_reauth
             - disconnected
             - parked
-          description: Last recorded ledger state for this provider. `connected` is also the value a user who has never synced
-            sees — the ledger row is created on the first attempt, and its absence reads as `connected`, not as an
-            error.
+            - unknown
+          description: "Last recorded ledger state for this provider. `unknown` (added v1.38.19) is what a user who has never
+            synced sees: the ledger row is created on the first attempt, and its absence is no claim about the
+            connection in either direction — it used to read as `connected`, which is why a client must never treat this
+            field as liveness. Read `syncHealth.verdict` for that, and treat `unknown` as `disconnected` anywhere a
+            ledger state is painted."
         lastSuccessAt:
           anyOf:
             - type: string
diff --git a/src/app/api/integrations/status/__tests__/route.test.ts b/src/app/api/integrations/status/__tests__/route.test.ts
index 31f546594..75c79e084 100644
--- a/src/app/api/integrations/status/__tests__/route.test.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/integrations/status/__tests__/route.test.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ const whoopFind = prisma.whoopConnection.findUnique as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
 
 type Entry = {
   integration: string;
+  state?: string;
   connected?: boolean;
   configured?: boolean;
   available?: boolean;
@@ -344,3 +345,41 @@ describe("/api/integrations/status — the freshness read failed", () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+/**
+ * v1.38.19 (wave B / I5) — the never-connected provider on the wire.
+ *
+ * The ledger's synthetic "no row" snapshot reads `unknown`, and the envelope
+ * publishes it verbatim. A client that reads `state` must see a value that
+ * cannot be mistaken for a live connection, while `syncHealth.verdict` keeps
+ * saying `disconnected` for the same entry.
+ */
+describe("/api/integrations/status — a provider with no ledger row", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+    for (const key of Object.keys(perIntegrationLedger)) {
+      delete perIntegrationLedger[key];
+    }
+    polarAvailable.mockResolvedValue(true);
+    ouraAvailable.mockResolvedValue(false);
+  });
+
+  it("publishes state unknown beside connected false and a disconnected verdict", async () => {
+    perIntegrationLedger.whoop = {
+      state: "unknown",
+      lastSuccessAt: null,
+      lastAttemptAt: null,
+      lastError: null,
+      failingSince: null,
+    };
+    userFind.mockResolvedValue({});
+    whoopFind.mockResolvedValue(null);
+
+    const whoop = (await fetchEntries()).find(
+      (e) => e.integration === "whoop",
+    )!;
+    expect(whoop.state).toBe("unknown");
+    expect(whoop.connected).toBe(false);
+    expect(whoop.syncHealth?.verdict).toBe("disconnected");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/components/settings/integrations/oauth-provider-card.tsx b/src/components/settings/integrations/oauth-provider-card.tsx
index 4b8d2e5b7..7435f0330 100644
--- a/src/components/settings/integrations/oauth-provider-card.tsx
+++ b/src/components/settings/integrations/oauth-provider-card.tsx
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ import {
   IntegrationErrorMessage,
   pillFailurePropsFor,
   pillStateForVerdict,
+  type IntegrationState,
 } from "./shared";
 import {
   CallbackMismatchNotice,
@@ -78,12 +79,12 @@ export interface OAuthProviderStatus {
   available: boolean;
   /** Whether the user has stored their own BYO client id/secret pair. */
   hasOwnCredentials?: boolean;
-  state?:
-    | "connected"
-    | "error_transient"
-    | "error_reauth"
-    | "disconnected"
-    | "parked";
+  /**
+   * The raw ledger state, carried for shape parity with the envelope. The
+   * card paints from `syncHealth.verdict`, never from this — which is why
+   * v1.38.19's `unknown` member needs no arm here.
+   */
+  state?: IntegrationState;
   lastSuccessAt?: string | null;
   lastAttemptAt?: string | null;
   lastError?: string | null;
diff --git a/src/components/settings/integrations/shared.tsx b/src/components/settings/integrations/shared.tsx
index ffcbc70d9..61f759367 100644
--- a/src/components/settings/integrations/shared.tsx
+++ b/src/components/settings/integrations/shared.tsx
@@ -36,8 +36,16 @@ export type IntegrationKey =
   // Nightscout folds onto the envelope so the card stops fetching its own
   // status and inherits the shared verdict.
   | "nightscout";
+/** Mirrors `IntegrationState` in `src/lib/integrations/status.ts`. */
 export type IntegrationState =
-  "connected" | "error_transient" | "error_reauth" | "disconnected" | "parked";
+  | "connected"
+  | "error_transient"
+  | "error_reauth"
+  | "disconnected"
+  | "parked"
+  // v1.38.19 — no ledger row: the ledger has no history for this provider.
+  // Read like `disconnected`; `syncHealth.verdict` owns liveness.
+  | "unknown";
 
 export interface IntegrationStatusViewModel {
   integration: IntegrationKey;
diff --git a/src/lib/integrations/__tests__/status.test.ts b/src/lib/integrations/__tests__/status.test.ts
index 6f689fba9..99845eedd 100644
--- a/src/lib/integrations/__tests__/status.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/integrations/__tests__/status.test.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ vi.mock("@/lib/crypto", () => ({
 }));
 
 import {
+  getIntegrationStatus,
   recordSyncFailure,
   recordSyncSuccess,
   markReauthRequired,
@@ -1368,3 +1369,25 @@ describe("recordSyncFailure — leg set", () => {
     expect(writtenUpdate().failingLegs).toEqual(["sleep"]);
   });
 });
+
+/**
+ * v1.38.19 (wave B / I5) — the synthetic "no row" snapshot.
+ *
+ * `state: "connected"` used to be the value an account with no sync history
+ * read back, which made the ledger field's default mean the opposite of its
+ * name: a provider nobody had ever connected published "connected" on the
+ * envelope, and the setup flow's connect step believed it. The honest value
+ * for "there is no history here" is `unknown`; `syncHealth.verdict` stays the
+ * only liveness truth.
+ */
+describe("getIntegrationStatus with no ledger row", () => {
+  it("reads as unknown, not as connected", async () => {
+    vi.mocked(prisma.integrationStatus.findUnique).mockResolvedValueOnce(
+      null as never,
+    );
+    const snapshot = await getIntegrationStatus("u1", "whoop");
+    expect(snapshot.state).toBe("unknown");
+    expect(snapshot.lastSuccessAt).toBeNull();
+    expect(snapshot.lastAttemptAt).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/integrations/status.ts b/src/lib/integrations/status.ts
index 2fa914b4f..96e730cb5 100644
--- a/src/lib/integrations/status.ts
+++ b/src/lib/integrations/status.ts
@@ -159,7 +159,22 @@ export function isSyncFailureRecorded(err: unknown): boolean {
  * trail.
  */
 export type IntegrationState =
-  "connected" | "error_transient" | "error_reauth" | "disconnected" | "parked";
+  | "connected"
+  | "error_transient"
+  | "error_reauth"
+  | "disconnected"
+  | "parked"
+  /**
+   * v1.38.19 — no ledger row exists for this (user, provider) pair, so the
+   * ledger has nothing to say. It is NOT a claim about the connection either
+   * way: `connected` used to be the synthetic default here, which made the
+   * field's default read as the opposite of the truth for every account that
+   * had never connected anything — the setup flow's connect step believed it
+   * and told a brand-new account its wearable was connected. Consumers treat
+   * `unknown` the way they treat `disconnected`; `syncHealth.verdict` stays
+   * the only liveness truth.
+   */
+  | "unknown";
 
 /**
  * The ladder at which a streak of failures escalates from "user-visible
@@ -323,9 +338,11 @@ function zeroBuckets(): ConsecutiveFailuresByKind {
 }
 
 /**
- * Read the current snapshot. Returns a synthetic "connected, never
- * attempted" record when no row exists yet — the UI treats this as
- * "no sync history" without a special case.
+ * Read the current snapshot. Returns a synthetic "unknown, never attempted"
+ * record when no row exists yet — the ledger holds no history, and says so
+ * rather than guessing a state. `resolveSyncVerdict` reads the same absence
+ * off the null timestamps and answers `pending_first_sync` for a live
+ * connection, `disconnected` for one that is not there.
  */
 export async function getIntegrationStatus(
   userId: string,
@@ -337,7 +354,7 @@ export async function getIntegrationStatus(
   if (!row) {
     return {
       integration,
-      state: "connected",
+      state: "unknown",
       lastSuccessAt: null,
       lastAttemptAt: null,
       lastError: null,
diff --git a/src/lib/openapi/routes/integrations.ts b/src/lib/openapi/routes/integrations.ts
index 13fcf3981..020549058 100644
--- a/src/lib/openapi/routes/integrations.ts
+++ b/src/lib/openapi/routes/integrations.ts
@@ -326,9 +326,10 @@ const integrationLedgerState = z
     "error_reauth",
     "disconnected",
     "parked",
+    "unknown",
   ])
   .describe(
-    "Last recorded ledger state for this provider. `connected` is also the value a user who has never synced sees — the ledger row is created on the first attempt, and its absence reads as `connected`, not as an error.",
+    "Last recorded ledger state for this provider. `unknown` (added v1.38.19) is what a user who has never synced sees: the ledger row is created on the first attempt, and its absence is no claim about the connection in either direction — it used to read as `connected`, which is why a client must never treat this field as liveness. Read `syncHealth.verdict` for that, and treat `unknown` as `disconnected` anywhere a ledger state is painted.",
   );
 
 const nightscoutConnectRequest = nightscoutConnectSchema.meta({
diff --git a/src/lib/record-settings/integrations.ts b/src/lib/record-settings/integrations.ts
index 192dd7e7c..cadea4616 100644
--- a/src/lib/record-settings/integrations.ts
+++ b/src/lib/record-settings/integrations.ts
@@ -14,5 +14,10 @@ export function resolveManagedIntegrationState(
   connected: Record<IntegrationKey, boolean>,
   integration: IntegrationKey,
 ): IntegrationState {
-  return connected[integration] ? state : "disconnected";
+  if (!connected[integration]) return "disconnected";
+  // v1.38.19 — `unknown` is the ledger saying it holds no row. The managed
+  // projection publishes a closed vocabulary its card paints from, and
+  // "no history" is not one of its states, so it reads as `disconnected`
+  // here exactly as it does everywhere else.
+  return state === "unknown" ? "disconnected" : state;
 }